Poll Ha’penny hornpipe

This is the West Clare version of the tune, learned from the fiddle playing of Breda Keville. She cites Clare-style concertina player Jacqueline McCarthy as the source, and J. McCarthy in turn learned it from Bobby Casey’s. The version is different from the more popular one, especially in the first part. https://thesession.org/tunes/841

A similar version was also recorded by Maeve Donnelly, Peadar O’Loughlin and Ronan Browne together, but it’s more like a composite of the two versions. The sleeve notes of the recording associate it with West Clare, but don’t clearly mention the source. Anyway, I’ll transcribe their version here soon.

According to the notes of Pat Mitchell, the author of “Dance Music of Willie Clancy,” Bobby Casey recorded this as Paul Halfpenny or Paul Ha’penny, and his version appears on Breathnach’s “Ceol Rince na hEireann” III. The summary of his comments on several versions of “Ha’penny” can be found here: https://thesession.org/tunes/1263#comment207803

Oops. I missed out a word in my first comment. Never mind.

I still haven’t got a chance to listen to B. Casey play it, but believe Ms Keville does a great job emulating his playing style.

The tune called “Hawke’s Hornpipe” in O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland is pretty much the same setting as Bobby Casey’s. This was a tune O’Neill got from the Mayo fiddler John McFadden.

Thanks for the info. It seems the Hawke’s HP is also on CRE II. Yeah, pretty much the same.

Here’s the version recorded by Maeve Donnelly, Peadar O’Loughlin, and Ronan Browne together.

K: Dmix
ed|c2EF GE~E2|GBAF G2 B/^c/d|egec AdcA|GE~E2 G2GE|
A2AB cBcA|d^cde g2 e/f/g|afge fdec|A2AG A2:|
ef|g2ga gedg|eggf gedg|e2ag abag|eaag a2ag|
~f3d ~e3^c|d2 B/^c/d efge|aged cAGE|A2AG A2:|

Note the second part is virtually identical to that of the common version.

Thanks for transcribing this one, Slainte.

You can listen to a short clip of Jacqueline McCarthy playing it: http://www.concertina.net/clips/jm_hidden_note_08.mp3

Great clip from Jacq McCarthy above, is just as I learned from Bobby Casey’s own recording 30+ years ago.
And also as I was most privileged to hear Bobby play in person at age 84, live at the Cuckoo Fleadh in Kinvara, was it almost ten years ago, with Eamonn McGivney(sp?) fiddler and a woman guitar player whose name I cannot recall as pleasant accompanist.
I was thrilled that I could see and hear Bobby Casey in person, this fiddle player who lent such smokey blues to Clare fiddling, the likes as extended so much by such eminents as Martin Hayes.
There Bobby was in Kinvara’s Conlon’s pub basement, and he asked for requests, so I shouted out, ‘Paul H’penny’ and he replied, “Sure.”
With hardly a bother to tune (a waste of precious time?), he launched into Paul H’penny and ne’er looked back.