The Musical Priest

reel

Key signature: Bminor

Submitted on May 25th 2001 by Jeremy.

This tune has been added to 1306 tunebooks.

Also known as An Sagart Ceolmhar, Musical Priest, The New Bridge Of Eden, The New Bridge Of Erin.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• 20th Feakle Festival: Reeling Through The Years by Various Artists
• A Fiddle Affair by Kierah
• After The Morning by Mark Nelson
• Alan Pipes - The Warm Up by Alan Roberts
• An Seo by Ragús
• Anarchy And Rapture by Annwn
• Another Feast Of Irish Folk by Various Artists
• Are We There Yet? by Cora Smyth
• At The Source by Celtic Spring
• Bach To Ireland by Vivian Minden And Julia Shaw
• Banish Misfortune by Malcolm Dalglish And Grey Larsen
• Cape Breton Fiddle Music Not Calm by Howie MacDonald And Ashley MacIsaac
• Captain Hopper's Mutiny by Bowi
• Casey In The Cowhouse by Bobby Casey
• Celtic Nyckelharpa by Gavin Pennycook
• Champions Of Ireland: Harp by Various Artists
• Champions Of Ireland: Mandolin by Marina Meyler
• Cliabhán An Dúchais by Brid O'Donohue
• Culann's Hounds by Culann's Hounds
• Dans Tous Les Cantons by Accordéonistes Du Québec
• De Danann by De Danann
• Draw The Bow by Malachy Bourke
• Dusk Till Dawn by Charlie Lennon And Johnny Og Connolly
• Edel Fox And Ronan O'Flaherty by Edel Fox And Ronan O'Flaherty
• Farewell To Connacht by Na Fili
• Fiddle And Flute by Natalie Padilla, Blayne Chastain And Peter Romero
• Fiddle Duets by Andy McGann And Paddy Reynolds
• Fiddler's Fancy by Tommy Peoples
• Five After Four by Tim Hart
• Flying On Home by Airdance
• From Ballymote To Brooklyn by Paddy Killoran and James Morrison
• Full Steam Ahead by Give Way
• Gaelic Roots by Various Artists
• Gander In The Pratie Hole by Carlos Plumley And Mike Herr
• Give Us Another by Joe Derrane
• Grianan by Grianan MTC
• Happy To Meet Sorry To Part by Horslips
• I'm Here Because I'm Here by Quilty
• In The Footsteps Of Coleman by Various Artists
• Instrumental by The Dubliners
• Irish Folk Rock by McPontiac
• Irish Pennywhistle Taught By Cathal McConnell by Cathal McConnell
• Jigs And Reels by Jesse Smith
• Just Me And A Fiddle by The Flyin' Fiddler Wayne Cantwell
• Knot Loitering by Knot Fibb'n
• Leitrim's Hidden Treasure by McNamara Family
• Live - Again by Silly Wizard
• Live In America by Silly Wizard
• Live In Batesville by Needfire
• Lost In The Loop by Liz Carroll
• Music For Solo Violin by Gilles Apap
• Music For The Set by Johnny O'Leary
• Music From The Coleman Country by Various Artists
• North-by-NorthWest by Eliot Grasso And Dave Cory
• Oidhreacht by Conor Keane
• One by Murphy Roche Irish Music Club
• P.J. Hernon by P.J. And Marcus Hernon
• Phosphorescence by Alys Howe
• Promotional Recording by Tim Hart
• Raise The Rafters by Molly's Revenge
• Slow And Easy by John Weed And Stuart Mason
• Southwind by Glenn Morgan
• Spinndrift by Mooncoin
• Stanley And Grimm, Another Round by Stanley And Grimm
• Starkindler by Michael Card
• Stony Steps by Matt Molloy
• Take To The Floor by Haste To The Wedding
• Tarraing Tead/ Pulling Strings by Maire Breatnach And Cormac De Barra
• The Blossom And The Rain by Carol Thompson
• The Celtic Viol by Jordi Savall
• The Chieftains 1 by The Chieftains
• The Coast Road by Karen Ryan
• The Curlew by Cliff Moses
• The Devils Of Dublin by Celtic Music Society (East Rochester HS)
• The Factory Turn by Damian O'Brien And Oliver Loughlin With Arty McGlynn And Kevin Brehony
• The Irish Girl by Robin Bullock And Michel Sikiotakis
• The Moons Of Glenloy by Cannach
• The Porthole Of The Kelp by Sean Casey
• The Press Gang by The Press Gang
• The Pretty Blue Seagull by Frank Claudy, Paul De Grae, Patrick O'Dea, Anne And Joe Skelton
• The Professor by James Morrison
• The Road Out Of Town by The Itinerant Band
• The Totally Traditional Tin Whistle Tape by Various Artists
• The Uilleann Pipes Of Ireland by Jean-Yves Le Pape
• The Very Best Of The Claddagh Years by The Chieftains
• The Wounded Hussar by Pete Cooper
• Three Forks Of Cheat by Trapezoid
• Tom Byrne by Tom Byrne
• Traditional Fiddle Music Of Cape Breton Volume 3 Bras D'Or House by Various Artists
• Traditional Irish Music From County Clare by Martin Vaughan
• Traditional Irish Music Played On The Fiddle by Tommy Peoples
• Traditional Tunes by Alistair Anderson

X: 1
T: Musical Priest, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Bmin
|:BA|FBBA B2Bd|cBAf ecBA|FBBA B2Bd|cBAc B2:|
|:Bc|d2dc dfed|(3cBA eA fAeA|dcBc defb|afec B2:|
|Bc|dBB2 bafb|afec ABce|dB B2 bafb|afec B2Bc|
dB B2 bafb|afec ABce|dcBc defb|afec B2|

The third part can be tricky. It's quite a jump going from the mid B to the high B. I've written it out here with the mid B played quite long. What you can do is then shorten this note slightly and use the pause created to get your fingers into position for the high B and the run down that follows it.

The second part has that familiar phrase that can be found in lots of reels in the key of A, such as O' Rourke's.

# Posted on June 2nd 2001 by Jeremy

Set with "Musical Priest"

Greetings:

Enjoyed this wonderful site for over a year, and I'm finally starting something!

When you play "The Musical Priest" in a set, what else do you like to include along with it?

All suggestions warmly welcomed!

Solstice Blessings, Cathryn Bauer

# Posted on December 21st 2002 by cathrynb

Re: Set with

Maybe a big D major tune that starts on the F#, like 'my love is in america' or 'the wise maid' would be nice. You could also follow it with an A major tune for a big lift. The minor to major whole step modulation is alway a nice one.

# Posted on December 21st 2002 by B Rad

Re: Set with "musical priest"

you might try:-
the roscommon reel
boil the breakfast early
the musical priest
all 3 reels seem to run naturally at the same sort of pace and the changes are both easy to do and pleasant to the ear.

# Posted on December 21st 2002 by teetotaller

Re: Set with

How about The Musical Priest followed by Jenny's Chickens?

# Posted on December 21st 2002 by Henk Bos

Re: Set with

This is funny. I just learned The Musical Priest in that last two weeks and had been wondering the same thing! I've found Sweeney's Buttermilk followed by The Musical Priest has a nice flow. But I need something else.

# Posted on December 22nd 2002 by ANNY

A set my teacher in Bristol (UK) likes to play is

The drunken landlady
Otter's Holt
The Musical Priest

trevor

# Posted on January 23rd 2003 by Trevor Jennings

Re: Set with Musical Priest: Mountain Road?

I think the Mountain Road sounds really good after the Musical Priest. Check out this recording for an example: http://www.celticspringband.com/Track06.mp3 The first two tunes in this set are O'Carolan's Welcome (waltz, I think) and The Morning Dew (reel).

-Max

# Posted on December 4th 2003 by Max Becher

Tommy People's version

Doesn't Tommy Peoples play this one in E minor? I think it sounds really nice down there, particularly the third part. I learned it from one of his CDs in Em, and then when I played it at the session all I got was blank stares, which surprised me because I'd heard them playing it before, only I hadn't recognized that they played in a different key. Anyway, try it down there, on the flute the crans on that E make it really nice for the first part, even though you have to up the first note an octave.

-phil

# Posted on June 18th 2004 by Johnnie with the Queer Thing

Chieftains 1

this is an awesome tune on that album but it sounds so much like Julia Dealaney's.

# Posted on December 30th 2004 by lilting piper

The Musical Priest by The Chieftains

T:Musical Priest, The
M:4/4
L:1/8
S:The Chieftains - "The Chieftains 1"
R:reel
Z:gmp
K:BMin
|:BA|FB~B2 BABd|cBAf ecBA|FB~B2 BABd|cBAF B2:|
|:Bc|d2dc dfed|(3cBA eA fAeA|1dcBc dfaf|edcd B2:|2dcBc dbaf|edcd B2
||:Bc|dB~B2 bafb|afec Acec|dB~B2 bafb|afec B2:|

# Posted on December 30th 2004 by gian marco

Set with "Musical Priest"

The Musical Priest goes well in the following set:
1. Battle of Aughrim (A dorian)http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/1308
2. Castle Kelly (A minor)http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/21
3. Musical Priest (B minor)

# Posted on February 25th 2005 by GraemeO

Related Tune?

Would anyone happen to know if this piece is related to the American "old-time" tune The Fall(s) of Richmond?

# Posted on March 20th 2005 by gille ruadh

This is done amazingly by the JSD band

# Posted on August 22nd 2005 by ecidralla

James Morrison 3rd part

X: 1
T: Musical Priest, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
S:James Morrison
K: Bmin
BA | FBBA BcdB | cBAc ecBA | FBBA BcdB | ceAc ~B2 :|
Bc | d2 (3edc dfed | cAeA fAec | dcBc def^g | afec ~B2 :|
bBfB bBfB | cBAc ecBA |1 bBfB bBfB | cBAB cB B2 :|2 Bcdc defg | afec B2 |

Here's a basic rendering of James Morrison's version, recorded early last century. The third part is distinctly different, and I hear it played occasionally. I like it a lot, but it doesn't blend well when everyone else is playing the "usual" way!

# Posted on September 6th 2007 by fidkid

Similar to another tune

The first 2 parts of this tune bear great similarity to an old Scottish strathspey, "The North Bridge of Edinburgh"

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1435

# Posted on October 7th 2007 by prouse

The Gravel Walks, into The Musical Priest is what I've heard a lot. Two really really great tunes, really ups the tempo at a session.

# Posted on October 14th 2007 by AntIarthar

I think Silly Wizard used to play it after Jean's Reel. Here is a clip of Johnny and Phil Cunningham playing the two tunes in a set after The Laird of Drumblair:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fEGxWWctBtw

# Posted on October 19th 2007 by No Cause For Alarm

I play this one, on tinwistle, like I found in a fiddle book (110 Irish fiddle tunes vol. 2, Waltons):
X: 1
T: The Musical Priest
R: Reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|: BA | FBBA BABd | cBAf ecBA | FBBA BABd | cBAF B2 :|
|: Bc | d2 dc dfed | (3cBA eA fA eA | dcBc dbaf | edcd B2 :|
|: Bc | d (3BBB bafb | afec Acec | d (3BBB bafb | acec B :|

# Posted on February 20th 2009 by boisei0

The Musical Priest goes well with the High Reel, very lively in a session.

# Posted on August 11th 2009 by laveylad

This tune is in the Gunn Book (Fermanagh 1865) as 'The New Bridge of Eden' and in Breathnach's collection as 'The New Bridge of Erin'

# Posted on November 12th 2009 by The Archivist

Eliot Grasso plays this tune in Amin and then rolls into "Farrell O'Gara" (Dmaj) on *North-by-Northwest*. I think it sounds better in Amin -- it's less awkward to jump between octaves on A than B on pipes

# Posted on April 28th 2010 by bdh

I find the Musical Priest and the Bucks go well together, or for that matter
The Musical Priest
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
The Bucks of Oranmore

# Posted on August 12th 2010 by Eoin Mc Cormack

Liz Carroll plays a fantastic rendition of this tune, but she starts with The Silver Spear followed by The Earl's chair leading on to The Musical Priest. it works very well! try a combination of those 3 in a different order perhaps

# Posted on August 28th 2010 by jack.rowe

Yeah, but Liz Carroll plays it in a different key (Gmin, I think). It's a brilliant rendition, to be sure, but the success of her set depends at least in part on the key change (and in part on the fact that she's Liz Carroll).

# Posted on August 28th 2010 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious

Musical Priest a.k.a. Broom of the Cowdenknowes

JC's has a tune under "Broom of the Cowdenknowes" which is the sames as Musical Priest. Anyone know any history or background on this? Bob

# Posted on May 15th 2012 by Bob MacLean

I can't find the "Broom" you're talking about - just the usual one, which is nothing like either "The Musical Priest" or its original "The North Bridge of Edinburgh". Got a link to it?

If there is such a version, the most likely explation is that somebody in the Scottish country dance scene swapped the tunes around for a dance called "The Broom of the Cowdenknowes". But I don't know of any dance of that name since Playford.

# Posted on May 16th 2012 by Jack Campin

http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/Ireland/reel/

The Musical Priest - supposed other title is "The Broom etc".

It's quite likely that this is an error on the part of Chambers.
I've not heard anybody play the Priest under that title. I don't think the lyrics would work either - given that there is that challenge to compose a second part to the original tune!

# Posted on May 16th 2012 by Weejie