Poll Ha’Penny hornpipe

This transcription by Henrick Norbeck Is almost exactly like I play aside from a preferred note here or there. I said exactly which needs a little qualification. I play most of those double eighth notes as dotted eighth and sixteenth.

I wish I could remember the name of the artist who recorded it. It was a tape that some friends brought me from California. The best of Rose ———. If I can find that tape I will correct her name. To me, she didn’t play the piece with the usual bounce that I accord many hornpipes. She played it as smooth as silk. I rather liked her version so I play it smooth to audiences and more traditional at Sessions.

Florie Brown out of California recorded it on her greatest hits release. I like receiving local recordings. Who knows - One of these recordings I have could be from one of you.

This tune is one of several that have evolved from the air:
"Molly McAlpin", collected by Edward Bunting. Vol.1, No 44
"General Collection of Ancient Irish Music", adapted for the pianoforte. published in 1796. No composer credit given but in a bio-sketch I read once, O’ Carolan was quoted as saying that he "wished" he had composed it. That suggests that the tune was written before his death in March 1738 more than 54 years before the date of the harpers gathering in 1792.

Watch Angelina Carberry and Martin Quinn play this tune: http://www.custysmusic.com/mall/CustysTraditionalMusicShop/angelina_and_martin.htm Superb!

This tune is listed as "Paul Halfpenny" (pronounced ha’penny of course!) on Bobby Casey’s "Taking Flight" LP, but the record company had merely misheard the "usual" name "Poll Hal’penny": I once heard Bobby Casey (at the King & Queen pub in London) himself correct piper Tommy McCarthy who had suggested the tune using the title "Paul ..". The title is listed correctly as "Poll …" on Casey’s "Casey in the cowhouse" cassette (Bellbridge 001).

A fine hornpipe version of tune, known simply as the "Radstock Jig", was collected from fiddler James Higgins in Somerset (England) by Cecil Sharp.

I’m confused, it seems so much like THE NEW CENTURY (https://thesession.org/tunes/2001) Molloy & Keane play on Contentment is Wealth (https://thesession.org/recordings/display/264) and yet no-one has mentionned it…

Am I imagining things?
Should those titles be included in one another’s list of aliases?

Huh? Yes, they’re both hornpipes…. No, they;’re different tunes.

The mode may be me being esoteric or something. Personally, I think it’s in Dmix, not Amix. This has to do with whether you think the Cs are generally sharp, and sometimes played natural, or whether, like me, you think the Cs are generally natural, and sometimes played sharp. I don’t think (and this is only one of the possible views) that the note the tune ends on is relevant for this purpose, as modal tunes fairly often end on notes other than the ‘tonic’ or ‘final’ note of the mode.

Academic rant over.

Here’s how I remember this tune - now that I’ve recovered what it is from Dow’s prompt the other day, that is:

X: 1
T: Poll Ha’Penny
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: Dmix
AB | cAAG A2 (3AB^c | d=c AF G2 (3B^cd | ed^cA d^cAG |
ABAG ABde | ~f3d ~e3^c | d2 (3B^cd efge | aged ^cA G=c |
A2 AG A2 :||: ef | ~g3f gfef | g2ga gedg | eaag a2 ag |
eaa^g aba=g | ~f3d ~e3^c | d2 (3B^cd efge | aged ^cA G=c |
A2 AG A2 :|

"LH" has summarised Pat Mitchell’s comments on this tune: https://thesession.org/tunes/1263/comments#comment207803

I’m now learning the West Clare version of the tune and will try to post it in a couple of days.

https://thesession.org/tunes/7612

recording of Jimmy O’Brien-Moran from Willie Clancy Summer School 2005

http://nicolaslbrown.googlepages.com/track08.mp3

God I love this tune

It is attributed by Francis O’Neal to a 17th century harper named Laurence O’Connellan in his book "Irish Minstrels and Musicians"

Hawk’s Hornpipe as played by piper Barney Delaney is very much like the Clare version of this tune. His century old recording may be heard here: http://archives.irishfest.com/dunn-family-collection.htm

As recorded in The Lonesome Touch, something like:
X:1
T:Poll Halfpenny
T:Paul Ha’penny
D:Martin Hayes & Denis Cahill. The Lonesome Touch
N:First tune in set ‘The Garden of Butterflies’
N:Although a ‘hornpipe’ played slow
N:Played through twice then leads into jig
N:The {ABd} ornament is used regularly roughly as shown
N:I have not attempted to annotate the slides and other ornaments
Z:Edgar Bolton
M:4/4
R:Hornpipe/Slow Air
K:D
|: d>B G>B A2 A2 {ABd} | e>c A>F G2 G2 {ABd} | e>d c>A d>c A>G | A2 A>B A4 {ABd} |
f3 g e3 c | d2 A2 {ABd} e>f g>e | a>g e>d c>A d>c | A2 A>B A4 :|
|: g2 g>f g>e d>B | (3Bcd e>f g>e d>f | e2 a2 a3 g | e2 a2 a3 g |
f3 g e3 c | d2 A2 {ABd} e>f g>e | a>g e>d c>A d>c | A2 A>B A4 :|

X: 4
T: Poll Ha’Penny
X: Garraí Na Bhfeileoig
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: ADor
|: A>B |\
c>AA>^G A2 (3ABc | (3dcB (3AGF G2 (3Bcd | e>dc>A d>cA>^G | A2 A>^G A2 d>e |
f2 f>d e2 e>^c | d2 (3AB^c d>ee>d | a>ge>d (3cBA G>B | A2 A>^G A2 :|
|: e>f |\
g2 g>f g>ed>g | e>gg>f g>ed>g | e>aa>^g a2 a>=g | e>aa>^g a2- a>=g |
f2 f>d e2 e>^c | d2 (3AB^c d>ee>d | a>ge>d (3cBA G>B | A2 A>^G A2 :|

As learned in the Willie Week pipe class 1989. It is near to Liam O’Flynn’s Mrs. Crotty

And played here by Grey Larsen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqKWhBnfGBc

play video

gone: Your setting is in Ador not Dmix

Origin: I think the Connellan credited with this is William Connellan, rather than Laurence

This is a very barebones setting without any triplets—I think a lot of the fun with this tune is deciding where to add ornamentation (well, that and figuring out which C notes should be sharp and which should be natural).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PifmFCTpRVk

play video

Wonderful version by Mary Bergin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJlOspqiYPY

play video

And another wonderful version by Paddy Canny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MbQSayHCqY

play video