Kitty Sean Cunningham’s barndance

This lovely barndance was learnt off “Track across the Deep” CD of The London Lasses and Pete Quinn. They cite as the source three Donegal fiddle masters: Danny Meehan, James Byrne and Tommy Peoples, playing together in a concert at the 2002 Return to Camden Town Festival.

The notes don’t have information on Kitty Sean Cunningham. Does anyone know about him?

Thanks Hiro… 😉

http://www.ceolsaghleann.com/
http://www.ceolsaghleann.com/artists.htm

“Kitty Sean from Teelin is one of the great characters in the traditional music scene in Donegal. Now in her late eighties, she is known the length and breath of the country and beyond for her lilting and singing, her stories and her dancing. Kitty who never learned to play an instrument yet came to be the custodian of a great store of very old local tunes which she learned from legendary players like Frank and Con Cassidy, John Doherty and Jimmy Lyons and which she in turn passed on through her lilting. Many of theses tunes, like the now famous Kitty Sean’s Barn dance, made popular first through the playing of James Byrne, have found their way into the repertoire of musicians from Ireland to America.”

http://www.newryjournal.co.uk/
http://www.newryjournal.co.uk/content/view/1733/36/

http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/index.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/KISS_KY.htm

KITTY SEAN’S (BARNDANCE). Irish, Barndance. Ireland, County Donegal. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB.

Picked up by Dermot McLaughlin and other Donegal fiddlers from the lilting of the elderly (and very hospitable) Kitty Sean Cunningham, of Teelin, Donegal, a lover of dance and traditional music and a resource for the area’s older traditional repertoire.

The A-part is very familiar, but the B-part, well, the way it was given here confused me a little. So here’s my attempt at coming to terms with that confusion… 😉

X: 2
T: Kitty Séan’s Barndance
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: barndance
|: (3ABc |\
d<gd>B G>DD>G | F2 =F2 E2 A>B | c>Bc>A F2 (3DEF | G>d (3^cde d2 (3ABc |
d2 g<d G>BD>G | F2 =F2 E4 | c2 (3cde d>c (3AGF | G2 d2 G2 :|
|: (3GFE |\
F2 F>^E F>Ac>A | (3GAG A>F G2 (3ABc | d>AF>A D>FA>d |
[1 B>^AB>c B>GF>E | F>DF>^E F>A (3cBA | G2 G>F G>AB>c | d>AF>A D2 A>F | G2 (3FGA G2 :|
[2 B2 (3cBA B2 (3def | g2 g>f g>d (3Bcd | c2 c>B c2 A>B | c>Gc>e d>cA>D | G2 (3d^cd G2 |]

Correction, A-part, bar 4… 😏

X: 3
T: Kitty Séan’s Barndance
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: barndance
|: (Bc |\
dgdB GDDG | F2 =F2 E2 AB | cBcA FDEF | Gd^ce dAB=c |
d2 gd GBDG | F2 =F2 E4 | cGce dcAF | G2 d2 G2 :|
|: FE |\
F2 F^E FAcA | G2 AF GABc | dAFA DFAd |
[1 B^ABc BGFE | FDF^E FAcA | G2 GF GABc | dAFA D2 AF | G2 FA G2 :|
[2 BcBA Bdef | g2 gf gdBd | c2 cB c2 AB | cGce dcAD | G2 d2 G2 |]

Thanks, ‘c’. Glad to know the person in question is still active!

The Cunninghams were another lovely family I had the pleasure of sharing some time and music with ~ way back when… 😉

I’ll try to remember to dig through my old recordings and notes to see if I have a take on this anywhere. The likelihood is great…

needs to be added as the key signature ABC line in ceol’s versions. This is to clear up any confusion for those who don’t use ABC all that much and try to put it into a converter.

Sorry all, and thanks muspic… I haven’t caught up with lost sleep and you don’t want to see me after losing so much ‘beauty’… 😉 I was out today on a drive, with my lovely wife, and at one point while intending to go to a specific place, while simultaneously losing myself in listening to some particularly lovely Irish music ~ when suddenly we were back home… My wife was not pleased…

I’ve been doing some writing too ~ which is also revealing the wear and tear of exhausted brain cells… 😏

I enjoy your little tales, and word pictures, ceol. I was just wondering - when are we going to hear from Mrs Ceol herself? Or is she doomed to forever play the part of Pru Forrest? 🙂

“The Archers”? I’ll have to let her know… Like me, she only has one online identity. Her limited membership and involvement is solely to do with primary education. Hell, I would have never been here if it weren’t for her ~ almost dying on me… Tragedy does strange things to a person… 😀

Watch Brid Harper and Harry Bradley play this tune together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7ODNPv-920

play video

Anybody know the name of the second tune in the set played by Brid Harper and Harry Bradley in the above video?

@TomBombadil If you open the video on youtube it tells you - Chaffpool Post

Apologies - that is wrong. Its actually:
https://thesession.org/tunes/3462

A barn dance with lovely bounce to it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SES1I0Bq9Tw

play video

Always a pleasure to find a new barndance, and this is really a lovely one.

Already here: https://thesession.org/tunes/9048
Marin