Annotation:Cuffe Street
X:1 T:Cuffe St. M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel S:Kerr - Merry Melodies, vol. 4, No. 97 (c. 1880's) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Emin (dc) | BE (3EEE (BA)FA | dBAF DFAc | BE (3EEE (BA)FA | dBAF E2 :| |: (FE) | DFA^c dcdA | (3B^cd (Ad) (3Bcd (Ad) |1 DFA^c dfec | (3Bcd (AF) E2 :|2 fed^c dcBA | BdAF E2 ||
CUFFE ST. AKA and see "Cuffstreet Lasses (The)," "Highland Man Kissing his Wife (The)," "Humors of Cuffe Street (The)," "Humors of Tufts Street," "Old Cuffe Street," "Reel of Bogie (1) (The)." Scottish, Irish; Reel. E Minor/Dorian ('A' part) & D Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Donnellan): AABB' (Kerr). The reel is a member of the dorian-mode ""Reel of Bogie (1) (The)" family of tunes, related primarily in the first strain. As "Cuffstreet Lasses" it was collected in the Slieve Gullion region of south County Armagh by the Rev. Luke Donnellan (1878-1952), a rector at Dromintee, who published a collection of over 100 tunes, mostly reels, in 1909 in an article entitled "Oriel Songs and Dances" in The Journal of the County Louth Archaeological Society (vol. II, No. 2). Oriel [1] (now Oirialla), or Airgíalla, and Anglicizations, Oriel, Uriel, Orgiall, or Orgialla, was the name of an ancient Irish federation or kingdom largely in what is now the County Armagh, in the north of Ireland. Donnellan was enthusiastic about P.W. Joyce's then recently published Old Irish Music and Songs (1909), but found Irish music rather rare in his area.
The old people of Dromintee will tell you of the number and the skill of musicians who used to come to [nearby] Forkhill fair. I was told there used to be as many as thirty playing at it. They display an extensive knowledge of the names of songs and dance tunes, but cannot sing them. The reel known as “Black Haired Lass (2) (The)” No. 66 inf., seems to have been a great favourite with everyone. These facts point to a vanishing and disappearing musical culture.
Forkhill Fair, held on Michaelmas Day (Sept. 29th) was once the great horse and cattle fair, and festival of the area (St. Michael is the patron saint of horsemen).
American versions of the reel were printed in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) as "Humors of Cuffe Street (The)" and "Humors of Tuft's Street." The tune was recorded as "Old Cuffe Street" by the group Altan.
Fr. John Quinn identifies this tune as a member of the "Highlandman's Kneebuckle" family of tunes, whose members are themselves derivatives of "Haughs of Cromdale (The)" (see note for "annotation:Haughs of Cromdale (The)" for more).
