Annotation:Boys of Portaferry (The)
X:1 T:Boys of Portaferry, The M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel S:O'Neill - Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 521 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G BA|G2 BG AcBA|G2 BG GEDE|G2 BG ABce|dBgB c2 BA| G2 BG AcBA|G2 BG GEDE|G2 BG ABce|dBAB G2|| GA|Bdgd edgd|Bdgd e2 dc|Bdgd edef|gedB c2 BA| Bdgd edgd|Bdgd e2 dc|Bdgd egfa|gedB c2||
BOYS OF PORTAFERRY, THE (Buacailli puirt an calad). AKA and see "Sporting Boys (1) (The)," "Pullet (3) (The)." Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. David Taylor (1992) traces the tune and its relatives to an apparent root melody, a tune called "Pigeon on the Gale" (not to be confused with the similarly titled modern tune "Pigeon on the Gate"). It was published in Glasgow, Scotland, by James S. Kerr in the 1880's, although the provenance of the tune is unknown. The word 'gale' not only means a strong wind but also is the name for a bog-plant, also called 'sweet-gale', and either meaning may have been the one intended. Related tunes include "Red Haired Lass (The)" and "Shearing the Sheep." The second strain is inter-changeable with the second strain in both "Primrose Lass (The)" and "Brown-Eyed Girl (The)" (although the first strains are quite different). Francis O'Neill's source for the tune, County Cavan fiddler Phillip J. O'Reilly, also gave O'Neill an almost identical tune, "Sporting Boys (1) (The)."
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