The Rakes Of Mallow polka

This tune is most often heard as part of a set dance, not just in ireland, but in New England also.

I like to play this tune as if I were playing it for dancers. This means that ornamentation takes a back seat to keeping a steady rhythm.

I find it’s nice to play the first part in a choppy manner.

It’s nice to have percussive accompaniment to this tune, even if it’s just your own foot beating time.

Below are the lyrics for the Rakes of Mallow, supposed a traditional, Irish drinking song:

Beauing, belleing, dancing, drinking,
Breaking windows, cursing, sinking
Ever raking, never thinking,
Live the Rakes of Mallow;
Spending faster than it comes,
Beating waiters bailiffs, duns,
Bacchus’ true begotten sons,
Live the Rakes of Mallow.

One time naught but claret drinking,
Then like politicians, thinking
To raise the "sinking funds"when sinking.
Live the Rakes of Mallow.
When at home, with da-da dying,
Still for mellow water crying;
But, where there’s good claret plying
Live the Rakes of Mallow.

Racking tenants, stewards teasing,
Swiftly spending, slowly raising,
Wishing to spend all their days in
Raking as at Mallow.
Then to end this raking life,
They get sober, take a wife,
Ever after live in strife,
And wish again for Mallow.

I heard that sung by some "Mariners" (A fife corp) at a Fife & Drum Muster. It had some other verses which are far, far too dirty to even imagine posting in this forum. Unfortunatly I don’t remember them because I was laughing too hard. Gives the tune something of a lift & a giggle to boot.

I play this at 18th Century Rendezvous along with Road to Boston.
Does anyone have a timeline on either? It was background music for a PBS TV series called Sharp’s Rifles a few years ago, where it was used as a march.

I’ve grown up around traditional morris dance music, I knew this song sounded so familiar, so it makes sense about the new england thing

I have also heard this played in a ‘march’ way. There were specific dances that were danced to this tune, solo, couple and group… The earliest time base I can take it back to, from living memory, is the late 1800s in Eire/Ireland… I’ll see if I can find any notations for dance…and possibly older printed sources.

Road to Boston is a fife tune which I have been told was played by General Greene’s troops as they marched north from Rhode Island to help our colonial brethren up in Boston during the Revolutionary War.

the second part of this polka is used as the verse-tune for La Bolduc(the great , eternal, French singing, Canadian MusicHall artist of the ‘entre-deux-guerre’ period)’s ‘(Hourrah) pour la Pitchoune’ or "Elle joue du Banjo"

The tune for the verses of this song is based on the 2d part of this polka.
Its chorus and lyrics where penned by Mary Travers (aka La Bolduc) c.1930 it seems.
Have a peep at its double-entendres at: http://www.frmusique.ru/texts/b/bolduc/pitoune.htm

I just heard a Gael Force rendition of this on bagpipes with awesome guitar and heavy percussion. Very cool.

This tune is played a lot in the film The Quiet Man starring John Wayne

hi i have grown up with this sort of music all my life, im a dancer, and now am learning it on the fiddle have you got any tips to help me with this tune 🙂

Try avoiding it like the plague, and everyone will think you’re fantastic.

Have fun with it. In dear Ireland there wasn’t a county, musician or ceili band I came across that didn’t have this tune as part of their repertoire ~ and able to get some pleasure out of playing it. There are some in amongst the ‘new breeds’ that frown on such tunes and choose to ignore them, avoid them. Hey, it’s a free world, they can suck on a pint if any of those tunes they consider naff or dag happen to find air at a session they’re party to… The silliness in them is part of their charm, but some people take this music far too seriously…

Outside of Ireland too ~ Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, England, Denmark, South Africa, Canada, the U.S.A. ~ this little number and various dances that became associated with it ~ spread. It has been used for solo stepping and for sets ~ all sorts of dances and dancing ~ big circle, sicilian, longways, contras, squares, 4-hand, couple, etc… I’ve had the pleasure of playing it with a slew of different folks and for a slew of different dances, and we always had fun with it, as did the dancers, who quickly took it to heart and could be heard to hum or lilt it after having danced to it…

I’ll have to remember to add a different take or two of this melody to the comments here. If I forget ~ remind me… 😏

X: 23
T: Rakes Of Mallow, The
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: Gmaj
|: D |\
GB GB | GB c/B/A/G/ |FA FA | FA d/c/B/A/ |
GB GB | GB d>B | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG G :|
|: d |\
gf/e/ dc | Bc d2 | gf/e/ dB | ce A2 |
gf/e/ dc | B>c dB | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG G :|
|: D |\
GB GB/B/ | G>B c/B/A/G/ |FA F/G/A/G/ | FA D2 |
G>B GB/B/ | G/A/B/c/ d>B | cA F/A/d/c/ | BG G :|
|: d |\
gf/e/ d>c | Bc dB/d/ | gf/e/ dc | Bd Ad |
gf/e/ d2 | B>c d2 | cA F/A/d/c/ | BG G :|

& K: Dmaj ~ |: df df | df g/f/e/d/ | ~

& K: Amaj ~ |: Ac Ac | Ac d/c/B/A/ | ~

There must be an endless number of different takes on this tune in circulation out there. Let’s see some of them, please?!

I love it how with this tune the one name stuck and spread with the dissemination of the melody, wherever… While some very popular tunes have ended up with a slew of different names, often because lyrics were easily fitted to them, like "Shoe the Donkey", this very popular number tended to be known by the one name pretty much, "The Rakes of Mallow", even where languages other than English were the native tongue…

From the recorder lessons of my son:

T:Mallow Fling
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:G
|G2 B2 G2 B2|G2 B2 cBAG|F2 A2 F2 A2|F2A2 BAGF|
G2 B2 G2 B2|G2B2 d2 d2|cBAG FGAB |G4 G2 z2|
g2 fe d2 c2|B2 c2 d4 |g2 FE d2 c2|Bc d2 A4|
g2 fe d2 c2|B2 c2 d4 |cBAG FGAB |G4 G2 z2|

Interesting take, but there’s no way this sits well as a ‘fling’. Was it this way in a book? ~ or was it just a name the recorder teacher chose to give it? I’ve just corrected a small part of it, but was this a version where the parts repeated or not?

X: 3
T: Mallow Fling
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: polka, reel, march
K: G
G2 B2 G2 B2 | G2 B2 cBAG | F2 A2 F2 A2 | F2 A2 BAGF |
G2 B2 G2 B2 | G2 B2 d2 d2 | cBAG FGAB | G4 G2 z2 ||
g2 fe d2 c2 | B2 c2 d4 | g2 fe d2 c2 | Bc d2 A4 |
g2 fe d2 c2 | B2 c2 d4 | cBAG FGAB | G4 G2 z2 |]

"Kerr’s Third Collection of Merry Melodies"
Page 41, tune #371 ~ "Rakes of Mallow"

X: 3
T: Rakes of Mallow
B: Kerr’s Third Collection of Merry Melodies, page 41, tune #371
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: country dance
K: GMaj
|: GB GB | GB c/B/A/G/ | FA FA | FA d/c/B/A/ |
GB GB | GB d>B | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG Gz :|
|: gf/e/ dc | Bc d2 | gf/e/ dc | Bg A2 |
gf/e/ dc | Bc d2 | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG Gz :|


R: polka, reel, march, country dance…

X: 5
T: Rakes of Mallow, The
S: O’Neill’s Music of Irleand, 1903, page 341, tune #1814
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: march
K: GMaj
.G.B .G.B | .G.B c/B/A/G/ | .F.A .F.A | .F.A d/c/B/A/ |
.G.B .G.B | .G.B .d.B | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG Gz |
G/B/B/B/ G/B/B/B/ | G/B/B/B/ c/B/A/G/ | F/A/A/A/ F/A/A/A/ | F/A/A/A/ d/c/B/A/ |
G/B/B/B/ G/B/B/B/ | G/B/B/B/ dB | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG Gz ||
gf/e/ .d.c | .B.c .d.B | gf/e/ .d.c | .B.e Az |
gf/e/ .d.c | .B.c .d.B | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG Gz |
gf/e/ d/e/d/c/ | B/A/B/c/ d/c/B/c/ | gf/e/ d/e/d/c/ | B/A/B/e/ AB/d/ |
gf/e/ d/e/d/c/ | B/A/B/c/ d/c/B/c/ | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG Gz |]

Dots to be found here ~
http://www.celtic-sheet-music.com/
http://www.celtic-sheet-music.com/musicofireland.html
http://www.celtic-sheet-music.com/oneills/TheRakesOfMallow.pdf

3rd tune in a set of three for the longways dance "The Walls of Limerick"
Page 31 ~ #119

X: 6
T: Rakes of Mallow, The
S: Allen’s Irish Fiddler
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: march
K: GMaj
|: GB GB | GB c/B/A/G/ | FA FA | FA d/c/B/A/ |
GB GB | GB d2 | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG G2 :|
|: gf/e/ dc | B/A/B/c/ d2 | gf/e/ dc | B/A/B/c/ A2 |
gf/e/ dc | B/A/B/c/ d2 | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG G2 :|

http://www.oldmusicproject.com/
http://www.oldmusicproject.com/allans.html

~ the tune used for "Sir Roger", the dance…

I try to give some of the variations Johnny Doherty gave in playing the tune by writing out the repeats, AABB ~

X: 7
T: Rakes Of Mallow, The
S: Johnny Doherty, as heard on RTE radio
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: Gmaj
(3D/E/F/ |\
GB GB | GB c/B/A/G/ | FA DA | DA A/G/F/A/ |
GB DB | GB d>B | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG G>D |
GB GB | GB c/B/A/G/ | FA DA | FA d/c/B/A/ |
GB DB | GB d>B | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG G ||
f/a/ |\
gf/e/ dd/c/ | Bc de/f/ | gf/e/ dc/B/ | eA Af/a/ |
gf/e/ dd/c/ | Bc dB/d/ | c/B/A/G/ F/G/A/c/ | BG Gf/a/ |
gf/e/ dd/c/ | Bc de/f/ | gf/e/ dc/B/ | eA Af/f/ |
gf/e/ dd/c/ | Bg dB/d/ | c/B/A/G/ F/e/d/c/ | BG G |]

"The Rakes Of Mallow" was published in Burk Thumoth’s book, "Twelve Scotch and Twelve Irish Airs", c. 1742, subtitled "With Variations, set for the German Flute, Violin or Harpsichord by Mr Burk Thumoth". This is likely to have originally been part of the early wire strung harp repertoire. See:
http://www.earlygaelicharp.info/sources/thumoth.htm
http://www.pipers.ie/imco/BTEISA.HTM
http://www.pipers.ie/imco/BTEISA47-TheRakesofMallow.HTM

It’s been used to teach litl’ dancing girl their ‘seven’s’.

There’s a reference here (1-29) :
http://www.mtrecords.co.uk/articles/summers.htm to it being used in Yorkshire for the dance ‘Ninepins’.

I like to play the ending as |d/e/d/c/ B/C/B/A/ | BG G2 | but that’s just the version I picked up by whistling it!

I like to play this in D on a D whistle; shifting it up a few keys makes the fingering slightly easier to do at speed and you get that wonderful piercing top D starting the downwards run in the B part.

This tune is just ubiquitous in Scottish Country Dancing; I don’t think I went to a ceilidh or school dance in my youth when this didn’t pop up somewhere.

~ published in Burk Thumoth’s book, "Twelve Scotch and Twelve Irish Airs", c. 1742 ~ "With Variations, set for the German Flute, Violin or Harpsichord by Mr Burk Thumoth."

Given in 4/4 and also in 2/4 for comparison’s sake ~


akes Of Mallow, The
B: Burk Thumoth’s "Twelve Scotch and Twelve Irish Airs", 1742
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: GMaj
|: G2 B2 G2 B2 | G2 B2 dcBA | F2 A2 F2 A2 | F2 A2 c2 A2 |
G2 B2 G2 B2 | G2 B2 c2 A2 | B2 AG A2 GF | G4 G4 :|
|: g2 e2 d2 c2 | B2 c2 d4 | g2 e2 d2 c2 | B2 a2 A4 |
g2 fe d2 c2 | B2 AG c4 | B2 AG A2 GF | G4 G4 :|
|: DG B2 DG B2 | DG B2 d2 BG | DF A2 DF A2 | DF A2 c2 AF |
DG/A/ B2 DG/A/ B2 | DG/A/ BG d2 cB | ecdB AcBA | G4 G4 :|
|: gfge eddc | BGcA d4 | gbag fedc | BG a2 A4 |
(3bag (3agf (3gfe dc | (3BAG (3cBA d4 | (3edc dB AcBA | G4 G4 :|
M: 2/4
|: GB GB | GB d/c/B/A/ | FA FA | FA cA |
GB GB | GB cA | BA/G/ AG/F/ | G2 G2 :|
|: ge dc | Bc d2 | ge dc | Ba A2 |
gf/e/ dc | BA/G/ c2 | BA/G/ AG/F/ | G2 G2 :|
|: D/G/B D/G/B | D/G/B dB/G/ | D/F/A D/F/A | D/F/A cA/F/ |
D/G/4A/4B D/G/4A/4B | D/G/4A/4B/G/ dc/B/ | e/c/d/B/ A/c/B/A/ | G2 G2 :|
|: g/f/g/e/ e/d/d/c/ | B/G/c/A/ d2 | g/b/a/g/ f/e/d/c/ | B/G/a A2 |
(3b/a/g/ (3a/g/f/ (3g/f/e/ d/c/ | (3B/A/G/ (3c/B/A/ d2 | (3e/d/c/ d/B/ A/c/B/A/ | G2 G2 :|

X: 8
T: Rakes Of Mallow, The

The bit that went missing…

I woke up lilting it this way and then playing it on various instruments the same, and other ways too…

X: 9
T: Rakes Of Mallow, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: GMaj
|: (3D/E/F/ |\
GB GB | G/A/B/c/ dA/G/ | FA FA | F/G/A/B/ cB/A/ |
GD G>A | G/A/B/c/ d2 | cA d/e/d/c/ | BG G :|
|: (3d/e/f/ |\
gf/e/ dc | B/G/(3A/B/c/ d(3d/e/f/ | gf/e/ dc | B/G/B/d/ Ae/f/ |
gG dG | Bc d>B | c/B/A/G/ F/d/c/d/ | B(3A/B/A/ G :|

Listen to La Pitoune: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f7/13533.mp3
Lyrics here: http://www.labolduc.qc.ca/la-bolduc-son-oeuvre/paroles-des-chansons/2.html

The Winster Gallop is a close cousin: https://thesession.org/tunes/3570

On the Isle of Man this is known as ‘Lhigey, Lhigey’ and it is a children’s singing game. The lyrics are:
Lhigey, Lhigey gys y vargey, Lhigey, Lhigey gys y vargey,
Lhigey, Lhigey gys y vargey, Sooree er inneenyn.
Ghuilley, Ghuilley, gow inneen. Lhigey, Lhigey myr ochene.
Ghuilley, Ghuilley, gow inneen. Lhigey, Lhigey gys y vargey.

We play this tune regularly at our local session because the two fiddle players like it. Since both of the fiddlers also play for contra dancing and folk dancing, yes they play "Rakes Of Mallow" for the dances as well. "Road To Boston" is another tune which these two fiddlers play frequently for the dances but not at the local sessions.

Laurence