Key signature: Dmixolydian
Submitted on December 30th 2002 by Will CPT.
This tune has been added to 79 tunebooks.
Also known as An Ball Seirce, Beauty Spot, Colonel Taylor's, Sean Maguires, The Tailor's Thimble.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Beauty Spot, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
|(3AAA GB A2 dB|cBcG EFGB|A2 GB ABdB|cBcG ED (3DDD|
|A2 GB (3AAA dB|cBcG EFGB|(3AAA Ad ~B3d|cBce ed(3ddd||
|ed (3B^cd edcd|ed^cd eaag|ed (3B^cd ed=cB|ABcd ed^cd|
|ed (3B^cd edcd|ed^cd eaag|fgdB =cABG|ABcd gedB||
The Beauty Spot
Most printed sources give this as D mixolydian, but I'd tend to place it in A dorian--it's the same key signature (one sharp), so I guess it boils down to whether you hear this tune as resolving to the A or D, if it ever resolves at all.
Some versions of the Beauty Spot stay in D mix/A dorian for the B part, keeping to the c naturals for those triplets. Breathnach gives another option, collected off of fiddler Tommy Potts, in Volume 1 of Ceol Rince na Eireann.
T:An Ball Seirce
L:1/8
M:4/4
K:A dorian
dB|A2 AF A2 dB|{d}cAAG EFGc|(3ABA AF A2 dB|
|cAGE ED D2|(3ABA AF A2 dB|{d}cAAG EFGc|
|(3ABA AF A2 dB|cAGE EDD2||
|e~d3 edcd|e~d3 eaag|e~d3 edcA|ABcd edd2|
|e~d3 edcd|e~d3 eaag|afge fde^c|Add^c dedc||
# Posted on December 30th 2002 by Will CPT
Almost the same but without the ornamentation (quick transcribe from the Paddy Canny CD)
X:1
T:The Beauty Spot
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=175
K:Dmix
B|A2 GB AddB|cBcG EFGB|A2 GB AddB|cBcG EDDB|
A2 GB AddB|cBcG EFGB|AGAd B3 d|cBcG EDDB||
eddd edcd|edcd eaag|edcd eddc|ABcd eddg|
eddd edcd|edcd eaag|fgdB c2 AB|ABcd edd||
# Posted on December 30th 2002 by Bernie
Dmix or Ador
This is one of those tunes like "Jigging The Donkey" and "The Bank Of Ireland" where the backer sets the mode of the tune by the order the chords are played in, since both are implicit from the melody. Also you could mix the 2, playing a different mode each repetition of the tune. If I was using Ador I would resolve to D major chords at the end of phrases, and if Dmix then I'd resolve to G maj where the melody drops to the low D.
# Posted on January 3rd 2003 by Dow
Recorded on wax cylinder by pipers Barney Delaney (who announced it as Colonel Taylor's reel) and Patsy Touhey - transcribed in Mitchell and Small's book Piping of P.T. - and recorded on 78 RPM disk in the 20's by piper Sean O'Nolan, under the title The Tailor's Thimble.
# Posted on November 29th 2003 by Kevin Rietmann
The Beauty Spot
Here's a transcription of Maeve Donnelly's very different minor version played on a fiddle tuned A.EAe:
X: 1
T: Beauty Spot, The
M: C|
L: 1/8
R: reel
D: Maeve Donnelly: Maeve Donnelly
Z: Dow
K: Bdor
F3E F2BA|F2EC A,B,CE|~F3E ~F2BA|FAEA, CB,CE|
~F3E F2BA|F2EC A,B,CE|~F3A ~G3B|AFEA, CB,CE||
cBAB cB~B2|ceAB cafe|cBAB cB~B2|EFAB cB~B2|
c2AB cB~B2|ceAB cafe|~c3A BcBA|EFAB cABA||
Here's the same transcription for standard tuning (high D’s are omitted to make it more manageable on the fiddle):
X: 1
T: Beauty Spot, The
M: C|
L: 1/8
R: reel
D: Maeve Donnelly: Maeve Donnelly
Z: Dow
K: Edor
B3A B2ed|B2AF DEFA|~B3A ~B2ed|BdAD FEFA|
~B3A B2ed|B2AF DEFA|~B3d ~c3e|dBAD FEFA||
fede fe~e2|fade fbba|fede fe~e2|ABde fe~e2|
fede fe~e2|fade fbba|~f3d efed|ABde fded||
And here is the same version transposed down into the usual range for comparison with the standard setting:
X: 1
T: Beauty Spot, The
M: C|
L: 1/8
R: reel
D: Maeve Donnelly: Maeve Donnelly
Z: Dow
K: Ddor
A3G A2dc|A2GE CDEG|~A3G ~A2dc|AcGC EDEG|
~A3G A2dc|A2GE CDEG|~A3c ~B3d|cAGC EDEG||
edcd ed~d2|egcd eaag|edcd ed~d2|GAcd ed~d2|
edcd ed~d2|egcd eaag|~e3c dedc|GAcd ecdc||
Here’s an extremely groovy setting I got from James Fagan who said he’d learnt it from a piper:
X: 1
T: Beauty Spot, The
M: C|
L: 1/8
R: reel
Z: Dow
S: James Fagan
K: Dmix
A3G A2dB|BccG DEGE|GA (3BAG AdcA|BAGd edBG|
A3G A2dB|BccG DEGE|GA (3BAG AdcA|BAGd edd2||
eddA ed~d2|edcd efgd|e2dA edcA|GAcd edd2|
e2dA edcd|edcd efg2|fgef decd|ABcA GA (3BAG||
Variation for bar 4 is |EAGc edBG|
Variations for the last bar are |BcAB GAEG| and |ABGA EFGE|
Here's a version that's a bit more standard for comparison with the above:
X: 1
T: Beauty Spot, The
M: C|
L: 1/8
R: reel
Z: Dow
K: Dmix
A3G A2dB|~c3G EFGE|A2AG AddB|cBcG EDDG|
A3G A2dB|~c3G EFGE|A3c ~B3d|cBcG EDD2||
ed~d2 edcd|ed~d2 eaag|ed~d2 edcA|GAcd ed~d2|
ed~d2 edcd|ed~d2 eaag|fgef decA|GAcd egdc||
# Posted on December 5th 2006 by Dow
The Beauty Spot
As a polka(!): http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3681
# Posted on February 24th 2007 by slainte
Go here for a similar tune http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/2504
# Posted on September 4th 2007 by Dow
John Williams
John Williams plays what sounds like a very old version. I assume he got it from Mikilìn Conlin (RIP), an old box and concertina player from Lisdoonarna, Co Clare, who was much loved and is much missed.
# Posted on June 25th 2008 by cocus