Week 5
Captain Corbett's - Hornpipe
I learned this tune from Francis O'Neill's book Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody: Comprising Forgotten Favorites, Worthy Variants, and Tunes Not Previously Printed, which was published by Lyons and Healy in 1922 and isn't currently in print but is available in a digitized form online. O'Neill got the tune from San Francisco fiddler Francis E. Walsh, who ran a stationery shop in the city. I put this tune after another Francis E. Walsh tune, The Leinster Hornpipe. It appeared in several 19th- and early 20-th century tunebooks such as Ryan's Mammoth Collection, Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Song, and one of Kerr's Collection of Merry Melodies. It was also notated in the Gunn and Grier manuscripts. As far as I know, this tune hasn't been commercially recorded in the Irish world, but seems to be popular in French-Canadian circles, as well as contra, Scottish, and Cape Breton. Some of its other names include:The Duke of Brunswick's, The Mare, Reel du Goglu, Le Mer, The Prince's, Bonnie Annie's Clog, and the Copenhagen Hornpipe.
Captain Robert Corbet (also spelled Corbett) was a British Navy officer during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, and died under questionable circumstances. He was apparently very strict and quite unpopular with the troops, and they may have mutinied against him and killed him!
The name also belongs to an evil Marvel Comics villian who ran the 'Circus of Crime' and who fought Kid Colt. I'll let you decide which Captain Corbett that Walsh was referring to. I don't think either guy really deserves to have this lovely hornpipe named after him.
Beneath my videos is a recording of brilliant Scottish guitarist/singer Tony Cuffe playing it as 'The Mare' after Miss Wharton Duff. Then, we have a 1930s French-Canadian fiddle version performed by Joseph Allard (1865-1947) and delightfully titled 'Reel du Goglu,' or Goblin's Reel! Finally, I included a modern interpretation by French-Canadian fiddler Francois Dumas, because I just love the pulse he puts behind it..
The Barren Rocks of Aden - Polka (or march)
Here's another tune with a varied and storied past. It started off as a highland piping march, and it was composed by James Maunchline of the 78th Highlanders, who had been stationed by the said Barren Rocks in Aden, Yemen. The tune was first published in 1869 in the Ross Collection. You can find out so much more at the Scots Language Center website, and you can hear a Scottish version of it there.
Several military and pipe band pieces have ended up in the Irish tradition, especially around Sliabh Luachra. Lots of marches turn into polkas, and this is one of those. As a polka, it's known by a variety of names, such as Dalaigh's #1, Dan O'Leary's, The Sailor's, and Ma, Ma, Won't You Buy Me a Banana. This last name comes with words.
Following my recording, I've put up a few example videos. First is the original highland piping version of the tune. Then, you can hear a slow and even polka version (last set of the tune) as recorded in 1948 by Erin's Pride Orchestra of Philadelphia (and featuring a saxohone!!). Last, as played by Sliabh Luachra royalty Paudie O'Connor and Aoife Ní Chaoimh.
Last, and ...well, probably least, the version that will keep the tune in your head long after you die, as performed by Cilla Fisher and friends. Cilla is the sister of folksinger Archie Fisher and is a brilliant folksinger in her own right, so don't let this be the only bit of her music that you check out. Gotta dig the drum machine thing.
The Barren Rocks of Aden Video