Annotation:Little Stack of Barley (1)

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LITTLE STACK OF BARLEY [1], THE ("An Staicín Beag Orna" or "An Staicín Eorna"). AKA and see "Evening Was Waning," "Little Mary Cassidy," "New Bedford Reel (2)," "Patrick Condon's Vision," "Stack of Barley," "Stacks of Barley." Irish, Hornpipe. E Minor ('A' part) & G Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. There is a special couple dance to this tune (played in hornpipe time) in which the partners face each other and use the ‘barrel’ hold. It is sometimes customary to dance the Stack of Barley after the ceili dance The Siege of Ennis. Two hornpipes are played as an accompaniment with the first being “The Stack of Barley,” considered the signature tune for the dance. The title supposedly refers to that part of the barley harvest that was kept aside for the making of Irish poitín (literally, small pot, also as poteen/potheen).

The famous County Sligo émigré fiddler Michael Coleman (1891-1945) recorded this tune in New York in a medley with "Stack of Wheat (The)." Accordion player Joe Burke (b. 1939), originally from Coorhoor, above Loughrea in County Galway, remembers playing with the Leitrim (parish) Céilí Band for set dancers in the 1950’s at Irish dance venues in London, and was impressed by the “thousands of people” who danced the sets and old-time waltzes at the halls. Later he played gigs in New York, Chicago and Boston, playing on a circuit for Bill Fuller’s dance halls along with piano player Felix Dolan and fiddler Paddy Killoran. They dressed formally and had a fifteen minute spot between the Fintan Ward Band’s sets, giving them time to play “The Seige of Ennis,” “Stack of Barley” and an old-time waltz (Vallely & Piggott, Blooming Meadows, 1998). Bronx, N.Y., fiddler and fiddle teacher Martin Mulvihill (1986) remarked: “Old Irish dance” and “There are several versions of this tune. This one I learned from the lilting of my grandfather.”

The title appears in a list of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham's (1856-1931) repertoire. The elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the mid-1920's. Montreal fiddler J.O. La Madeleine used "Little Stack of Barley [1]" for the first two parts of his three-part "New Bedford Reel (2)," attaching a strain of "Green Fields of America" as the third part.

See also note for "annotation:Stack of Barley" for Canadian versions.

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - the mid-19th cent. music manuscript collection of County Cork uilleann piper and cleric James Goodman [1] [Shields]; Louise Arsenault (b. 1956, Welligton, East Prince County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman].

Printed sources : - Corfield (Tunes from New Brunswick), 2024; p. 69. Cranitch (Irish Fiddle Book), 1996; p. 76. Mallinson (100 Enduring), 1995; No. 79, p. 33. ]. McDermott (Allan's Irish Fiddler), c. 1920’s, No. 89, p. 23. Messer (Way Down East), 1948; No. 41. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 61, p. 36 (appears as "Stacks of Barley"). James Morrison (How to Play the Globe Accordion Irish Style), 1931; No. 32, p. 26. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 52, p. 129. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 328, p. 162. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1627, p. 302. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 858, p. 148. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 180. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 63. Prior (Fionn Seisiún 2), 2003; p. 36. Robbins Music Corp. (The Robbins collection of 200 jigs, reels and country dances), New York, 1933; No. 53, p. 17. Roche (Collection of Traditional Irish Music, vol. 2), 1912; No. 201, p. 7. Hugh Shields (Tunes of the Munster Pipers vol. 1), 1999; No. 140, pp. 58-59. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two), 1999; p. 11.

Recorded sources : - Columbia 33523F (78 RPM), Michael Coleman & P.J. Dolan (1927). Decca 12036 A (78 RPM), Michael Coleman (Nov., 1934). Edison 51041 (78 RPM), John H. Kimmel (accordion player from New York City), 1922. Flying Fish FF70572, Frank Ferrel – “Yankee Dreams: Wicked Good Fiddling from New England” (1991). Folktrax FTX-154, Michael Coleman - "Stack of Barley & Wheat" (1980). Leader LEA 2004, Martin Byrnes. Shanachie 79093, Paddy Glackin and Robbie Hannon – “Whirlwind” (1995). Spring Records SCD1037, Néillidh Mulligan - "The Leitrim Thrush." Topic TSCD606, Michael Coleman & P.J. Dolan et al – “Round the House and Mind the Dresser: Irish Country-House Dance Music.” Victor 18193 (78 RPM), John J. Kimmel (1916. Medley with "Blackberry blossoms" and "Green Fields of America"). WMT002, Wendy MacIsaac – “That’s What You Get” (1998?).

See also listing at :
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]
Hear John J. Kimmel's recording at the Victor discography [3] (1st tune in medley).
Hear Coleman's 1934 Decca recording at ITMA [4] and youtube.com [5] (accompanied by Michael "Whitey" Andrews on guitar).

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