Key signature: Gmajor
Submitted on May 6th 2003 by Nutty Nessie.
This tune has been added to 121 tunebooks.
Also known as Andy Irvine's, The Banks Of Inverness, Ionsaà Na HInse, Tulla, The Tulla.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Siege Of Ennis, The
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: Gmaj
D>E DC|B,D GA|Bd/B/ AB/A/|GE EG|
D>E DC|B,D GA|Bd/B/ AB/A/|1G2 GE:|2G2 GA||
|Bd dB|ce ed|Bd/B/ AB/A/|GE EG|
Bd dB|ce e>f|g/f/e fd|e2 ef|
ge fd|ed BA|Bd/B/ AB/A/|GE EG|
D>E DC|B,D GA|Bd/B/ AB/A/|G4 G2||
Names
Although I first knew this Polka as Andy Irvine's Polka (that's what it came off the web as), the man himsef has no idea why.
I found it originally in D but it's a bit high for the average whistle player.
# Posted on May 6th 2003 by Nutty Nessie
Polka & a Set Dance
This is also a set dance, set dances aren't any rhythm in particular, they can be hornpipes, reels even muzarka (shoe the donkey?) More refers to having a Set Dance that you do to a particular tune.
# Posted on May 6th 2003 by Brad Maloney
Siege of Ennis
Whatever this tune is called (it may be the Tulla Polka) it's not the Siege of Ennis which goes somethig like "B2 BA, GE E2, DG GA, BA A2". It's a good polka and the version shown here is the setting I'd go for - the setting sometimes played in Clare has some additional parts which personally I feel don't do anything for the tune.
# Posted on May 6th 2003 by Bannerman
Siege of Ennis
Bannerman, I happen to know this one as the Siege of Ennis as well.....; so Nutty Nessie can't be that wrong ...
# Posted on May 6th 2003 by Henk Bos
Thanks for the moral support Hek Bos - I'm just going by what the other internet collection said!
# Posted on May 7th 2003 by Nutty Nessie
Nessie, didn't Patrick Street record this one? That's presumably how it came to be called Andy Irvine's.
# Posted on May 9th 2003 by OrganicPeatCreature
Siege Of Ennis
It was recorded on "The Iron Behind the Velvet", Christy Moore et all and was called "Irvine's Polka". It says : ".....followed by a polka which was suggested by Andy, who had no knowledge of its title or source."
John
# Posted on May 11th 2003 by banjowalsh
Siege of Ennis
The Siege of Ennis is a dance not a tune. You can select any tunes you like for the dancers as long as they fit the steps of the dance. If you have access to Allan's Irish Fiddler you will find one series of tunes which can be used for the dance. The last time I saw it danced was in a pub in Clare and the band started off with Grand Old Dame Britannia.
# Posted on May 12th 2003 by Taglione
I'll have to check, but I think Siege is both a dance AND a tune, Taglione. I should know this, but I don't. *grin* Guess I'm glad I'm not taking my TCRG this year, it's going to have to wait til next year... We dance Siege all the time, it's one of the dances "by the Book."
Zina
# Posted on May 13th 2003 by Zina Lee
In Clare this tune is definitely the Tulla reel and not the Siege of Ennis (see Frank Custy's "Céad Poirt - Cuid a 1", page 8). There is also another 16 bars as follows:-
Bd Bd|Bd d2|ed Bd|ed d2|Bd Bd|Bd d2|ed BA|AG G2|\
GB d2|ed c2|dB G>A|BA A2|GB d2|ed c2|dB GE|ED D2||
# Posted on January 19th 2004 by Bannerman
Sorry, I meant Tulla Polka (not reel)!
# Posted on January 19th 2004 by Bannerman
"The Seige of Ennis"
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/2412
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by ceolachan
Ionsaà na hInse
I should have added a note of clarity to the previous link. It takes you to an earlier entry that was made as "The Seige of Ennis". It is not the same tune and only ever known by me and a load of other nuts, from singing it back in the 70s, as "The Bogs", or "The Rattlin' Bog", or "The Bog Down in the Valley O'"...
I have some vague memory of another tune by this name, a four parter. If I can dig it up I'll contribute it.
# Posted on May 13th 2005 by ceolachan
I first came across this song some months ago. There is a Mandola player from Enniskillen, northern Ireland called Barry McGundy (or maybe McGandy). He made a few CD's at home and sold them cheaply on ebay. Nice bloke and not a bad player either.
One of the sets on his CD was:
Kerry Polka (Egan's)
St Patrick
Seige of Ennis
St Annes
I really took a shine to the Seige of Ennis but never bothered to learn it. Some time later I went down to the session. I was sitting in and then I heard that tune being played! The Seige of Ennis. Although, like Bannerman said it had a 3rd part in it which, I agree, doesn't do anything for the tune whatsoever. I wanted to make sure of what this tune was called so there was a banjo player beside me and I asked him and he said "Oh, I can't remember. Wait! The Tulla Polka it is". I personally though he had made an error because all I knew of was the Tulla Reel. But then I went searching for the tune recently. Both tunes seem to be the same. It would obviously be a Clare tune with Tulla (I think) and Ennis being in Clare.
Although I wouldn't know how that 3rd bit came about!
Paddy
# Posted on August 15th 2005 by 52Paddy
It's a Scottish 2/4 march called The Banks Of Inverness.
# Posted on May 1st 2006 by Dow
Duplicated here http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/4774
# Posted on May 1st 2006 by Dow
The Siege of Ennis
I learnt to play this tune back in the fifties. Nine times out of ten it was played for the Ceili Dance ' The Siege of Ennis' and consequently was known as The Ennis Reel. We always played four parts to this tune.
# Posted on October 26th 2007 by Free Reed
I don't know if this is the missing bit you had in mind Free Reed which we always play at the Clare sessions:-
Bd Bd|Bd d2|ed Bd|ed d2|Bd Bd|Bd d2|ed BA|AG G2|\
GB d2|ed c2|dB G>A|BA A2|GB d2|ed c2|dB GE|ED D2||
# Posted on October 26th 2007 by Bannerman
"The Seige of Ennis" / "Rattlin' Bog" ~ /tunes/display.php/2412 ~ alas no more
This was the one that Bannerman was giving early on ~ "B2 BA, GE E2, DG GA, BA A2" ~ * Posted on May 6th 2003... Here is the earliest submission of the tune ~
"The Rattlin' Bog" ~ polka / song
Key signature: D Major
Submitted on March 12th 2002 by hillfolk.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/583
# Posted on January 30th 2008 by ceolachan