Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Hold The Reins

reel

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on July 23rd 2004 by Kenny.

This tune has been added to 24 tunebooks.

Also known as The Boys Of Dublin, The Dublin Lads, Hould The Reins, Thornton's.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

A Letter Home by Athena Tergis
A Night At The Fair by The Two Tap Trio
Bonnie Kate by Various Artists
Faoi Bhlath by Dave Sheridan, Ciaran Somers, Nicolas Quemener
For The Sake Of Old Decency by Various Artists
John Williams by John Williams
Live In Ennis by The Bowhouse Quintet
Shady Woods by Tommy Martin
Sraid Eoin Shuffle by Aoife Granville
Sweetwood by Liam Kelly
The Kilmore Fancy by Catherine McEvoy And John McEvoy
The Piper's Apron by Tommy Keane
The Thing Itself by Maeve Donnelly And Peadar O'Loughlin
Traditional Irish Tunes Played On The Tin Whistle (1/2) by Geraldine Cotter

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Hold The Reins

From a very early and obscure recording of Mary Bergin. I'd forgotten about this tune until it came up a few times in Miltown Malbay.
It then turns up on the new Catherine/John McEvoy CD, [ "The Boys Of Dublin"], and has also been recorded by "The Bowhouse Quintet" [ "Thornton's ]and Seamus Egan. A great reel for flutes and whistles.

# Posted on July 24th 2004 by Kenny

This tune appears on Jimmy Noonan's recording "The Maple Leaf." He calls it Upstairs in a Tent, but I know at least two other tunes by that name. Whatever the name, his version is terrific - the set starts with the Humours of Castlefin and ends with Sporting Nell and the West Wind.

# Posted on July 26th 2004 by jdicarlo

Hold the Reins

This is in Geraldine Cotter's book as the Kilfenora Reel. I play The Boys of Ballinahinch into this one as a set. Thanks a lot for the name - that's another question mark removed.

# Posted on July 26th 2004 by Peter Piper

The Dublin Lads

I didn't know this tune is already in the database with the correct title "Hold the Reins." It appears on two recent flute and fiddle duet albums: Catherine and John McEvoy's "The Kilmore Fancy" as Kenny pointed out, and Maeve Donnelly and Peader O'Loughlin's "The Thing Itself." Both are among the best recordings of the last year. As for the alternative title, Pat Mitchell, the author of The Dance Music of Willie Clancy, writes: "I named The Dublin Lads. After recording Willie Clancy playing it I asked him for the title: 'I don't know what it's called, I got it from the Dublin lads.'"

Here's the version on the two great recordings mentioned above:

K: Gmaj
g2dc BG~G2|ABcA defd|g2dc BG~G2|1 BdcA GABd:|2 BdcA G2Bc||
df~f2 dg~g2|defd edBA|df~f2 dg~g2|fdcA G2Bc|
df~f2 dg~g2|defd edBc|dg~g2 bgag|fdcA GABd||

This tune really sounded familiar to me, and I felt obliged to learn it. Now I see why. I once tried to learn it from John Williams' first solo recording around a year ago.

# Posted on February 6th 2005 by slainte

Kenny, I much prefer this as a single. It gets a bit repetitive as a double.

# Posted on December 15th 2006 by Dr. Dow

Kilfenora Reel

There is a lot of Kilfenora Reels. This happens to be another as a chap I know got this tune from his teacher as "The Kilfenora Reel".

# Posted on December 17th 2006 by 52Paddy

3 part version

Dave Sheridan on "Faoi Bhláth", and Tommy Keane on "The Piper's Apron", play a 3 part version of this tune which is close to the way Willie Clancy played the tune.

# Posted on July 31st 2011 by niall_kenny

A transcription of Willie Clancy's version is here:

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/4994

# Posted on July 31st 2011 by niall_kenny

Hold the reins

This appears as 'Three Drops of Brandy' on a 78 RPM by piper Pat Fitzpatrick. One note on the bass reg to emphasise the end of the parts. Each time.

# Posted on August 31st 2011 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski

Three Drops of Brandy

Fitzpatrick had a deluxe set with four regulators, making his mono mania all the more amusing. In his defense he did play the odd chord on his other records. I heard those pipes once - quite lovely, actually. Had the beejeezus rushed out of them I think.

He was also one of those old timers who'd throw in an extra beat or bar here or there for some reason. Think I'll compile a set of those someday, it's quite odd. It also seems to be a formula in French Canadian or eastern US trad music - take UK tune, add beat/bar, voila, you have Quebequois music.

# Posted on September 1st 2011 by KLR

Great tune

It's on 'Back Home to the Cliffs of Mohir' as "Thornton's"; the liner notes state, "The first reel was named after Jimmy Thornton, Chicago".

# Posted on January 3rd 2012 by DavidT