Leather Away The Wattle-O

polka

Key signature: Dmajor

Submitted on December 22nd 2003 by Aidan Crossey.

This tune has been added to 79 tunebooks.

Also known as An TSeanbhean Uasal, Buail Leat Leis An Bata, Cheese, The Grand Auld Dame Britannia, The Grand Ol' Dame Britannia, The Grand Old Dame, The Grand Oul Dame Britannia, The Grand Oul' Dame Britannia, The Half Door, The Half-Door, The Halfdoor, I-tiddly-I-ti, Johnny Redmond, Johnny Redmond's, Ladies' Chain, Leather Away The Wattle O, Leather Away With The Wattle, Leather Away With The Wattle-O, Leather The Bottle-O, The Lisdoonvarna, The Little Lisdoonvana, The London Bridge Polka, The London Bridge, Maureen From Gibberland, The Rathmore, Rose Tree, Rose Tree II, The Rose Tree, Tearing Away With The Wattle, TSeanbhean Uasal, The Water Street, Waves Of Tory, The Waves Of Tory.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

Ah, Surely! by Eddie Cahill
An Irish Delight by Flanagan Brothers
Blackthorn Ceilidh Band by Blackthorn Ceilidh Band
Celtic Reels And Jigs - The Blackberry Blossom by Various Artists
Come West Along The Road by Brian O'Connor
Dance Album by The Bushwhackers Band
Ellen Valley Band by Ellen Valley Band
Farewell To Ireland CD 3 (Of A Box Set Of 4) by Various Artists
Fiddler's Fancy by Tommy Peoples
Foinn Seisiun 2 by Ceoltóirí Cultúrlainne
Golden Vanity by Modesty Forbids
King Of The Button Box by Jimmy Shand
Musical Memories by Tom Dunne And Joe Banjo Burke
Past Masters Of Irish Dance Music by Various Artists
Rolling Home by The Foundry Bar Band
Set On Stone by The Kilfenora Ceili Band
Shake Your Shamrocks by Various Artists
Strings Attached by Mick Moloney
Take To The Floor by Haste To The Wedding
The Bluebell Polka by Jimmy Shand
The Ceilidh Album by Dave Swarbrick
The Ceilidh: Are Ye Dancin'? by The Glencraig Scottish Dance Band
The Fabulous Kilfenora Ceili Band by The Kilfenora Ceili Band
The Half Door by Packie Byrne And Bonnie Shaljean
The Humours Of Lewisham Volume 2 by Aidan Crossey
The Irish Music Anthology (40 Classic Songs, Jigs And Reels) by Various Artists
The Limestone Rock by Micho Russell
The Michael Sexton Ceili Band by The Michael Sexton Ceili Band
The Road Out Of Town by The Itinerant Band
The Thing Itself by Maeve Donnelly And Peadar O'Loughlin

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

A great polka, used as the tune for the song "The Grand Oul' Dame Britannia".

# Posted on December 22nd 2003 by Aidan Crossey

Leather Away The Wattle O

This is a great tune, but the name is a mystery. Does anyone have a clue what it means? How does one leather ones wattle and why would one want to?
Bill M

# Posted on January 3rd 2004 by bmckim

I've been playing this tune for years and have never had a name for it, so many thanks. This was one of the first tunes I learnt and associated with Irish music and that's going back a long way. I play this as the second tune in a set with a tune called 'Captain McGuire' which I believe could be American.

# Posted on February 15th 2004 by hetty

I learned this tune 25 years ago under the name "tearing away with the wattle" Later on I was told the name "the rathmore polka"
I play it as the first tune in a set followed by "dennis leary's" &"john ryans".

# Posted on March 18th 2004 by mic

I learn't this tune way back in the sixties under the title "Waves of Tory" - why has it got so many names?

# Posted on March 18th 2004 by Bannerman

Bill, apparently the name means "male masturbation" http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/LEA_LEG.htm#LEATHER_AWAY_WITH_THE_WATTLE.

You also asked: "why would one want to?" hahaha.

# Posted on November 27th 2004 by Dr. Dow

And who said that ITM had no useful purpose!Bill M

# Posted on May 7th 2005 by bmckim

"The Half Door" / "Leather Away the Wattle-O"

# Posted on June 23rd 2006 by ceolachan

Leather wattle-o is not the same tune as The Half Door

I have requested the tune The Halfdoor bit i am not getting the right tune e-mailed to me.

# Posted on June 23rd 2006 by Bernard Walbourne

Re: Leather wattle-o is not the same tune as The Half Door

There's never a guarantee, Bernard, but I did send you one suggestion. Is the tune you're looking for a jig, reel or what ?Who have you heard playing it ? The more information you give us, the more likely it is we can help.

# Posted on June 23rd 2006 by Kenny

Re: Leather wattle-o is not the same tune as The Half Door

I'll email you my version, which is also called the grand olde dame

# Posted on June 23rd 2006 by Clifardo Albrechto

Re: Leather wattle-o is not the same tune as The Half Door

its a polka, right?

# Posted on June 23rd 2006 by Clifardo Albrechto

Just maybe your source or you have confused a name?

Try offering us a few bars ~ there's a load of helpful folk here who will likely find the tune for you, but for now, you might just have the wrong name attached to your wants, as you will see wit the following links that all these sources currently online dealing with Irish and related music agree with the entry here at TheSesh...

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/2286

Fiddler's Companion
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/index.html
Alphabetical Files
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/FCfiles.html
LEA - LEG
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/LEA_LEG.htm
Leather Away the Wattle-O
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/LEA_LEG.htm#LEATHER_AWAY_WITH_THE_WATTLE
HAA - HAP
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/HAA_HAP.htm
The Halfdoor
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/HAA_HAP.htm#HALFDOOR

T:Halfdoor
M:2/4
L:1/8
Q:240
R:Polka
B:Richard Darsie's Traditional Tune Sourcebook
N:4/4 in book; transcribed as 2/4 here
Z:Lorna LaVerne
K:D
B/c/ |
dA FA |d2 dc/d/ | ed cd | ef gf/g/ |
af/a/ g/f/e | dB AF | GB A/B/A/G/ | FD D :|
e |
f2 fe/f/ | g2 ge | f2 fa | gf ef/g/ |
af/a/ g/f/e | dB AF | GB A/B/A/G/ FD D :|

the sectionalised web-wide abc index
http://staffweb.cms.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc/index/split.html
H ~ no "Half Door" of any sort
http://staffweb.cms.gre.ac.uk/~c.walshaw/abc/index/split/wwabcH.html

Richard Robinson's Tunebook
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/tunebook.html
Search Form ~ no 'Halfdoor', 'Half Door' or 'Half-Door' of any sort
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/search/searchform.html

John Chambers offerings
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/homepage.html
Tunefind
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/tunefind
Half Door

X: 1
T: the Half Door
T: the Lisdoonvarna Polka
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
Q: 240
R: Polka
B: Richard Darsie's Traditional Tune Sourcebook
N: 4/4 in book; transcribed as 2/4 here
Z: Lorna LaVerne <Muse1950@aol.com>
F:http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/march/RoseTree2.abc 2006-06-23 19:04:46 UT
K: D
B/c/ \
| dA FA |d2 dc/d/ | ed cd | ef gf/g/ |
| af/a/ g/f/e | dB AF | GB A/B/A/G/ | FD D :|
e \
|: f2 fe/f/ | g2 ge | f2 fa | gf ef/g/ |
| af/a/ g/f/e | dB AF | GB A/B/A/G/ FD D :|

HA ~ one entry for Half Door
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/ndx/HA.html

X: 1
T: the Rose Tree #2
T: Leather Away the Wattle O
T: the Half Door
T: the Lisdoonvarna Polka
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
Q: 240
R: Polka
B: Richard Darsie's Traditional Tune Sourcebook
N: 4/4 in book; transcribed as 2/4 here
Z: Lorna LaVerne <Muse1950@aol.com>
K: D
B/c/ |
dA FA | d2 dc/d/ | ed cd | ef gf/g/ |
af/a/ g/f/e | dB AF | GB A/B/A/G/ | FD D :|
e |
f2 fe/f/ | g2 ge | f2 fa | gf ef/g/ |
af/a/ g/f/e | dB AF | GB A/B/A/G/ FD D :|

# Posted on June 23rd 2006 by ceolachan

Mind you, it seems they all have relied on our member 'Richard Darsie' and his 'Traditional Tune Sourcebook'... :-)

# Posted on June 23rd 2006 by ceolachan

# Posted on May 2nd 2007 by NeilBarr

Leather Away the Wattle-O

I've also heard it called Upstairs in the Tent, Skin the Goat, and, in my first band, it was known as Yah-Tiddlie-Ah-Tah ( from the beginning of the B part onomatapoeically ).
It is, of course, the second tune in Dave Swarbricks' Spanish Ladies Medley on that old album Rags,Reels, and Airs.

# Posted on March 21st 2008 by Guernsey Pete

To the initial question

The following from The Fiddlers Companion.

'The title “Leather Away with the Wattle” breaks down as: ‘leather away’ i.e. to go at something vigorously, and ‘wattle’ i.e. a stick, or ‘to have a vigorous go with the stick’. This phrase could apply to various things, but is also a euphemism for male masturbation.

What nonsense. Seems like trite schoolboy logic to me. Wattle bark is a principle source of tannin for cureing hides into leather.

A beautiful flying dance polka. Easy to imagine it still ringing around inside your head the day after the dance, with the images of pretty girls, swirling dress's and flashing smiles still sweet to the memory, giving relief to the tedium of a low paid, hard working job.

# Posted on March 22nd 2008 by turtleneckbreath

You could add Touchstone's "The New Land" as having a recorded version of this polka ("Cheese"), in the set called "Three Polkas." If anyone know names for the 2 polkas that follow "Cheese", let me know! Thanks!

# Posted on April 4th 2011 by primrose lass