Key signature: Edorian
Submitted on April 1st 2003 by tufbo.
This tune has been added to 196 tunebooks.
Also known as Peter Crawley, Spancillhill.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Spancil Hill
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: waltz
K: Edor
|: B2 |\
"Em" B4 E2 | B4 B2 | "D" A4 F2 | D4 E2 | F2 A2 G2 | E4 D2 | "Em" E6- | E4 B2 |
"Em" B4 e2 | e4 f2 | e4 d2 | B4 c2 | "D" d4 e2 | d2 c2 B2 | A6- | A4 B2 |
"Em" B4 e2 | e4 f2 | e4 d2 | B4 c2 | "D" d4 e2 | d2 c2 B2 | A6- | A2 d2 c2 |
"Em" B4 E2 | B4 B2 | "D" A4 F2 | D4 E2 | F2 A2 F2 | E4 D2 | "Em" E6- | E2 z2 :|]
Spancil Hill
The title refers to a little village in County Clare (about 3 miles outside of Ennis on the road to Tulla). This is also the home of the renowned singer and composer, Robbie McMahon. Although Robbie's version and rendition of this song is unique, it's not one of his own compositions but was written by a Clare exile named Considine in the USA. Tragically the writer died at an early age and never achieved his ambition of returning to his native county.
# Posted on April 1st 2003 by Bannerman
Shouldn't the time signature be 6/8 rather than 3/4, therefore a jig rather than a waltz?
# Posted on April 1st 2003 by Trevor Jennings
I should have added that if the time signature is in 6/8 then it seems appropriate for this tune that the speed should be more waltz speed than jig speed.
# Posted on April 1st 2003 by Trevor Jennings
Spancil Hill
This is definitely a waltz and not a not a jig - sung as a jig the song would sound rediculous. It should be shown in 3/4 time.
# Posted on April 2nd 2003 by Bannerman
Sorry about the "typo" with the 2 "not a" - maybe I got too frustrated at the thought of this melancholy song being trotted out in jig time!
# Posted on April 2nd 2003 by Bannerman
I recognised that there would be problems in converting the tune at this stage to a true 3/4, which is why I suggested in my second post that, although in 6/8, it should be played at waltz speed. Not the ideal solution admittedly, but if the ABC is written in 6/8 then the database system is going to "see" it as a jig, come what may.
# Posted on April 2nd 2003 by Trevor Jennings
Waltz/Jig
Hi Bannerman
This is a common dilemma in writing out abc's for Waltz type tunes. In my opinion the only correct solution here is to write the tune as a waltz in 3/4 but with the note durations changed and the bars also changed to suit:
B2E B2B |A2F D2E would become:
B4 E2|B4 B2|A4 F2|D4 E2| etc
This preserves the waltz like pulse of three beats to the bar but maybe needs to be played a little faster than the dots would suggest.
Cheers
Donough
# Posted on April 2nd 2003 by Donough
Waltz
As an addendum or explanation to my last comment about the pulse. On re-reading I thought I should explain better.
If you were a dancer listening to the beat of the music you would look for groups of 1,2,3. and in the music that can only happen if the first note counts for two of those beats. In 3/4 this has to mean that the first note is a "half note" ( 2x 1/4) and the second a "Quarter".
Now I've probably confused everyone!!
Cheers
Donough
# Posted on April 2nd 2003 by Donough
Spancil Hill
Thanks Donough for your solution - this is the normal way that the music for Spancil Hill would be written. For anyone who'd like to sing the song, a popular version (Robbie McMahon's version is considerably longer) can be found at http://starship.python.net/crew/manus/music/irish/spancil.html. However, ignore the melody on the site as there are a few dubious notes played!!
# Posted on April 2nd 2003 by Bannerman
Spancil Hill: Waltz or Jig?
Couldn't resist. First off, calling any song or tune in 3/4 time a Waltz is a bit like calling any tune or song in 2/4 or 4/4 a Reel: it ain't neccessarily so. Having said that, I'd say Spancil Hill as a song, could be written in 6'/8, 3/8 or 3/4. If written in 3/4, however, it should not look like a jig, as it does here. Attempting to play the tune in a true 3/4 as written is just too weird! I haven't done much with abc, but I know enough to know it doesn't have to come out looking like this. Practically speaking, I just play it the way it looks, as a jig. It's not very satisfying as a jig, and maybe it would be best to classify it as an air, or a song (can you do that? )
# Posted on April 4th 2003 by ffidylguy
Spancil Hill
For those who want all the eleven verses and the story behind them:
http://www.geocities.com/lorettapage/irish/span2.html
# Posted on August 28th 2005 by Ingrid
yah.. why would someone, make this song , about a man remember his life in Spancil Hill into an upbeat jig.. ^o)
...seems kinda stupid to me
# Posted on February 11th 2007 by apriloreilly13
Waltz for sure!!
The way I see it, 3/4 is the rhythm of a waltz no matter how fast or slow it's played, or what it's played on, or if it's sung. Just because people don't typically dance the waltz to a song like this one, does not change it's category, although it may not be played the same as waltzes specifically meant for dancing to.
Trying to play it like a jig seems pretty much impossible to me, because when translated into 6/8 there aren't really any separated 4th beats!!
Rather than the rhythm in the sheet music here, which is laid out|1/4-1/8-1/4-1/8|, if you think of |1/2-1/4|1/2-1/4| (doubling the number of bars in the song) you get the slow speed needed and the beat on the long notes. Considering even just how much simpler it looks I believe you will find this song is a waltz, and in no way translatable to even a lethargic jig (if that is possible) without altering it to the point that it doesn't retain the same character at all.
Page 8 of "Soodlum's Irish Tin Whistle Tutor" has the tune laid out as I describe and it works nicely. http://unitedireland.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/spnlhl-c.gif
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by PJMcGorvin
Oh sorry,,,
I hemmed and hauled and never came to my point, in this song every first note of three is more or less evenly accented, like a waltz. In a jig ever OTHER first beat of three is more strongly than the other first beat of three.
A waltz = BANGtaptap | BANGtaptap
A jig = BANGtaptap bangtaptap | BANGtaptap bangtaptap |
Slip Jig = | BANGtaptap bangtaptap bangtaptap | BANGtaptap bangtaptap bangtaptap |
This may seem picky but I believe that it helps the music make a lot more sense to dancers whose rhythmic requirements are what dictated the need for these complex timings in the first place. Otherwise jigs would be written in 3/8 and there would be no need for 6/8 or 9/8 at all. The fact that it was composed specifically as a song suggests that it doesn't conform to a complex dance rhythm.
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by PJMcGorvin
Tufbo ~ Another DUMP & RUN ~ & yes! ~ 3/4!!!
It seems this is another one of those, sadly, where some yahoo dumps a tune and doesn't bother to comment, or possibly even to come back here and see that there is comment being left...
X: 1
T: Spancil Hill
M: 3/4
L: 1/4
R: jig
K: Edor
|: B2 E | B2 B | A2 F | D2 E | F A G | E2 D | E3- | E2 B |
B2 e | e2 f | e2 d | B2 c | d2 e | d c B | A3- | A2 B |
B2 e | e2 f | e2 d | B2 c | d2 e | d c B | A3- | A d c |
B2 E | B2 B | A2 F | D2 E | F A F | E2 D | E3- | E3 :|]
X: 1
T: Spancil Hill
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Edor
|: B4 E2 | B4 B2 | A4 F2 | D4 E2 | F2 A2 G2 | E4 D2 | E6- | E4 B2 |
B4 e2 | e4 f2 | e4 d2 | B4 c2 | d4 e2 | d2 c2 B2 | A6- | A4 B2 |
B4 e2 | e4 f2 | e4 d2 | B4 c2 | d4 e2 | d2 c2 B2 | A6- | A2 d2 c2 |
B4 E2 | B4 B2 | A4 F2 | D4 E2 | F2 A2 F2 | E4 D2 | E6- | E6 :|]
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by ceolachan
"Spancil Hill" ~ crediting tufbo's online source
It seems, or so I suspect, since this is note-for-note and also sadly written out with all the mistakes, including 6/8 time, that the following is likely where tufbo's cut-and-paste comes from. There were telling signs of it ~ like the odd and incomplete ending ~ | E3- Ez |] ~ but, they haven't given us chords! Both may be cut-and-paste?
O'Regan's Irish Pub: O'Regan's Session Tune Book
1224 Bishop Street, just south of Ste Catherines in Montreal, Quebec, Canada...
http://music.gordfisch.net/oregans/index.html
http://music.gordfisch.net/tradmusic/
abc notation: "Spancil Hill"
http://music.gordfisch.net/tradmusic/pub/cache/Spancil_Hill_718511.abc
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by ceolachan
http://music.gordfisch.net/tradmusic/pmwiki.php/Tunes/SpancilHill
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by ceolachan
"Spancil Hill" ~ probably source for the lot ~ the illustrious John Chambers
It sounds like, from the houndog's comment at the top, that poor tufbo's cut-and-paste was originally 3/4, and then someone coerced him into changing the time signature. This means that the likely source for the lot, including the jiggification of the O'Regan transcript, is most likely from the extensive abc work of John Chambers available online, which includes the notes and chords as given here and there ~ the 'lead-in' having been left out ~
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/StPatsDay/waltz.abc
Which looks like this ~
X: 33
T: Spancil Hill
R: waltz
Z: John Chambers <jc@trillian.mit.edu>
M: 3/4
L: 1/4
K: Edor
B \
| "Em"B2E | B2B | "D"A2F | D2E | FAG | E2D | "Em"E3- | E2B |
| "Em"B2e | e2f | e2d | B2c | "D"d2e | dcB | A3- | A2B |
| "Em"B2e | e2f | e2d | B2c | "D"d2e | dcB | A3- | Adc |
| "Em"B2E | B2B | "D"A2F | D2E | FAF | E2D | "Em"E3- | Ez |]
%%sep 2 1 500
~ & cleans up like this, changing L: 1/4 to L: 1/8 ~
X: 33
T: Spancil Hill
R: waltz
Z: John Chambers <jc@trillian.mit.edu>
M: 3/4
L: 1/4
K: Edor
|: B2 |\
"Em" B4 E2 | B4 B2 | "D" A4 F2 | D4 E2 | F2 A2 G2 | E4 D2 | "Em" E6- | E4 B2 |
"Em" B4 e2 | e4 f2 | e4 d2 | B4 c2 | "D" d4 e2 | d2 c2 B2 | A6- | A4 B2 |
"Em" B4 e2 | e4 f2 | e4 d2 | B4 c2 | "D" d4 e2 | d2 c2 B2 | A6- | A2 d2 c2 |
"Em" B4 E2 | B4 B2 | "D" A4 F2 | D4 E2 | F2 A2 F2 | E4 D2 | "Em" E6- | E2 z2 :|]
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by ceolachan
Transcription Credit: John Chambers
Transcription Credit: John Chambers
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by ceolachan
L: 1/8
Oops! ~ I forgot to change the L in the notation just previous...
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by ceolachan
Long time ago
Well, as you can see, it was posted 5 years ago, and frankly I do not posting it at all. What I do remember anyhow, is that i used JC' s tune a lot in those days and probably learnt it off of there. Whether it is a copy or a transcribe from my memory I can not remember, but it should be credited anyhow from where I originally got it. I must have forgotten to do that, for whatever reason, but now you know. JC' s tune finder is a good source by the way, and if you find tunes there that can not be found on this page I don't see a problem in copying it here. But, of course, one must remember to credit one's sources...
The reason I have not been more active in the comment section of this tune is frankly because I more or less stopped using abc and notes around this time. I guess I found out that learning by ear off the original records was both easier and better in the long run, so since then I've sadly only visited this site on very rare occasions, not even yearly...
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by tufbo
Edit
Replace first sentence with:
Well, as you can see, it was posted 5 years ago, and frankly I do not REMEMBER posting it at all.
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by tufbo
Ah, finally, a 'comment' from the contributor... Appreciated tufbo, even if a few years late. Sad to hear that the tune makes no connection anymore... Good to hear you are using your ears... Thanks also for the consideration, to move this and to comment... Best of luck with your music.
# Posted on January 6th 2008 by ceolachan
I thought it was here....Obviously not, after reading all the comments, but I remember seeing Spancil Hill listed as a march somewhere. If played at a lively tempo, it does sound like march-time to me.
# Posted on September 21st 2010 by c.smitty