The High Part Of The Road

jig

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on July 2nd 2001 by Jeremy.

This tune has been added to 171 tunebooks.

Also known as Ard A Bhothair, Ard An Bhothair, Ard An Bhothar, Ard An Bhóthar, Ard An Bothair, Ard An Bothar, The Blooming Meadows, Ellen Flanagan, High Part Of The Road, The Hill On The Road, Willie Clancy's, Willie Clancy's Fancy, Willy Clancy's.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• ALive by Kúla
• An Bodhran: The Irish Drum by Colm Murphy
• An Fhidil by Various Artists
• At First Light by Michael McGoldrick And John McSherry
• Barefoot On The Altar by Chulrua
• Carrying The Tune by Kevin Crawford
• Celtic Ceili by Various Artists
• Cláirseach Na HÉireann, The Harp Of Ireland by Siobhán Armstrong
• Classic Ceili Bands by Various Artists
• Cut Up The Floor by Jigsaw
• Hills And Hollows by Mary And Josie Nugent
• Irish Traditional Music Of County Clare by Bernard O'Sullivan And Tommy McMahon
• Kerry's Delight by Tom Fleming
• Kids In A Candy Store by Rick May And Gil Yslas
• Mick Mulcahy And Friends by Mick Mulcahy
• Mind The Dresser: Music For The Sets Volume 2 by Various Artists
• Music In The Glen by Heather Breeze
• One by 422
• Over The Straits by Fiddlehead
• Piper's Dream by Jack Brennan
• Rabharta by Feenish
• Sean Reid's Favourite by Jimmy O'Brien-Moran
• Seán Ryan CD1 by Sean Ryan
• Seoda Ceoil 2 by Various Artists
• Seoltai Seidte (Setting Sail) by Various Artists
• Sporting Nell by Tommy McCarthy
• Tempered by Last Night's Fun
• Ten Man Mop Or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again by Steeleye Span
• The Art Of Traditional Fiddle Playing by Matt Cranitch
• The Best Of Irish Piping by Seamus Ennis
• The Bridge Céilí Band by The Bridge Céilí Band
• The Bunch Of Keys by Jason O'Rourke
• The High Part Of The Road by Tommy Peoples And Paul Brady
• The Kilmore Fancy by Catherine McEvoy And John McEvoy
• The Lark In The Morning by Steeleye Span
• The Maple Leaf by Jimmy Noonan, Chris McGrath
• The Sligo Maid by Carmel Gunning
• The Spectacle Bridge by Michael Hynes And Dennis Liddy
• The Uilleann Pipes Of Ireland by Jean-Yves Le Pape
• The Windy Gap by Laurence Nugent
• They Sailed Away From Dublin Bay by Liam Farrell And Joe Whelan
• Tom Carey by Tom Carey
• Tone Roads by Wild Asparagus
• Touch Me If You Dare by Ronan Browne And Peter O'Loughlin
• Traditional Flute Music In The Sligo-Roscommon Style by Catherine McEvoy With Felix Dolan
• Traditional Irish Music From Doolin Co. Clare by Terry Bingham
• Two For Two by Laurence Nugent
• Uilleann Pipes And Whistles - Traditional Music From Co. Monaghan by Martin McCormack
• Untitled by Liam O'Flynn
• Warming Up by Martin Mulhaire, Séamus Connolly And Jack Coen
• When All Is Said And Done by Danu

X: 1
T: High Part Of The Road, The
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Gmaj
|~B3 cBc|ded cAG|F2D DED|DGG FGA|
~B3 cBc|dcA d2e|fed cAF|AGF ~G3:||
|~g3 def|g2a bag|~f3 def|afd cAB|
~g3 def|g2a bag|fed cAF|AGF G3:||

I picked up the ABCs for this tune from the IRTRAD-l mailing list. I've heard the tune many times before, though.

It's one of those nice tunes that sounds good played fast or slow.

# Posted on July 2nd 2001 by Jeremy

High Part of the Road

As far as I remember, this appears in Vol 1 of Ceol Rince na hEireann under this title though, in the notes Breandan Breathnach says that it was he himself who named the tune in Irish "Ard an Bhothair" which does mean the "top" or "high part of the road. His source was Willie Clancy. I have seen it on another site as "The Blooming Meadows".

# Posted on March 6th 2002 by LongNote

Track 11 of Danu "All is Said and DOne" starts with a nice version of this. I added the track listing mispelling so hopefully the album will connect with the tune. It is listed as Ard A Bhothair in recordings section.
What a site this has worked straight away!!!
NB The tune was posted by Jeremy originally.

# Posted on January 17th 2006 by Donough

Sorry for stating the bl**ding obvious - I forgot I was going ot put this comment in the recording section. :(

# Posted on January 17th 2006 by Donough

High Part of the Road, Gerry O'Connor and Danu

X: 1
T: High Part Of The Road, The
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
D: Danu, When All is Said and Done
K: G
~B3 cBc|ded cAG|F2D DED|DGG FGA|
~B3 cBc|dcA deg|fed cAF|1 AGF GAc:|2 AGF G2 f||
~g3 def|g/g/ga bag|~f3 d^cd|afd cBA|
~g3 def|g/g/a bag|fed cAF|1 AGF G2 f:|2 AGF GAc||

They also play the B part as follows (with the fiddle an octave lower):

~g3 def|ga'c bag|~f3 d^cd|afd cBA|
~g3 def|ga'c bag|fed cAF|1 AGF G2 f:|2 AGF GAc||

# Posted on October 26th 2006 by Will Harmon

For LongNote's information, the Blooming Meadows is a very similar tune but with 3 parts http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/4066.

# Posted on March 31st 2008 by Dr. Dow

Fintan Malone, from Co. Clare, taught me this jig. He calls it Willie Clancy's Jig. Willie Clancy was a frequent guest at the Malone house...So much so, that a room on the third floor was called Willie's room.

It was an interesting surprise to hear this tune again on Danu's CD and learn another name for it! The liner notes state that Brendan Breathnach named the tune since he could not find any known title for it.

And yes, it is a great tune played either fast or slow...and so easy to pick up by ear.

# Posted on February 16th 2010 by c.smitty

"easy to pick up by ear."
Too easy! I hate it! (the second part spoils it for me)

# Posted on April 1st 2010 by birlibirdie

Tommy Peoples' album of the same name

with Paul Brady was one of the first I ever bought and the title tune played by him (like all the other tunes, really!) seemed like magic. What a fiddler.

# Posted on December 29th 2011 by DavidT