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X:1
T:Stack of Wheat
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Hornpipe
B:Jerry O’Brien’s Accordion Instructor (Boston, 1949)
Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion
K:G
BA||(3GBG DE GABG|(3ABA GA Bdef|gedB GABG|dBAG E2 BA|
(3GBG DE GABG|(3ABA GA Bdef|gedB GABG|AGEF G2:|
(3Bcd|edBd edgd|edBd e2 (3def|gedB GABG|dBAG E2 (3Bcd|
edBd edgd|edBd e2 (3def|gedB GABG|AGEF G2 (3Bcd|
edBd edgd|edBd e2 (3def|gedB GABG|dBAG E2 BA|
(3GBG DE GABG|(3ABA GA Bdef|gedB GABG|AGEF G2||
STACK OF WHEAT, THE (An Cruach/Staicín Cruithneachta). AKA - “The Little Stack of Wheat.” Irish, Hornpipe (cut time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB'. Some similarity to the “Off to California” family of tunes. Philippe Varlet also finds the tune in Tadhg Crowley’s piping tutor, published in 1936. It was popular in the 1920’s, he says, and was recorded by a number of artists of the era, including Michael Coleman, James Morrison and Tom Ennis, the Flanagan Brothers and Dan Sullivan’s Shamrock Band. County Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman recorded it in New York in a medley following the “Little Stack of Barley (1)" and "Bantry Bay Hornpipe (1).”
Additional notes
Source for notated version : - New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker].
Printed sources : - Cotter (Traditional Irish Tin Whistle Tutor), 1989; 82. Cranitch (Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1996; No. 86, p. 160. Thadhg (How to Play the Irish Uillean Pipes) 1936; p. 24. Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 259, p. 80 (appears as “The Little Stack of Wheat”). Mallinson (100 Enduring), 1995; No. 77, p. 32. Hugh McDermott (Allan's Irish Fiddler), c. 1920’s; No. 99, p. 25. O’Brien (Jerry O’Brien’s Accordion Instructor), Boston, 1949. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two), 1999; p. 14.
Recorded sources : - Decca 12036 A (78 RPM), Michael Coleman (Nov., 1934. 3rd tune in medley, preceded by "Little Stack of Barley (1)" and "Bantry Bay Hornpipe (1)). Folktrax FTX-154, Michael Coleman - "Stack of Barley & Wheat" (1980). Larraga Records LR093098, Mike and Mary Rafferty – “The Old Fireside Music” (1998). Topic TSCD 602, Pat Roche’s Harp & Shamrock Orchestra – “Irish Dance Music” (1995. A reissue of the original 1934 recording).
See also listing at :
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources
Alan Ng’s Irishtune.info [1]
Hear Coleman's 1934 Decca recording at ITMA [2] and youtube.com [3] (accompanied by Michael "Whitey" Andrews on guitar).
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