Babes In The Wood

polka

Key signature: Dmajor

Submitted on October 1st 2004 by ceolachan.

This tune has been added to 23 tunebooks.

Also known as Babe In The Wood, The Babes In The Wood, Babes In The Woods, Captain Maguire, Captin Maguire, The Humours Of Listowel, I Have A Bonnet Trimmed With Blue, Liberton Pipe Band, Tom Doherty's.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

...Born For Sport by Paul O'Shaughnessy And Harry Bradley
Another Measure: Scottish Country Dance Music From The 1950's, Volume 2 by Adam Rennie And His Scottish Country Dance Quartet
Beauty An Oileáin: Music And Song Of The Blasket Islands by Various Artists
Ceilidh by Bun' Ber E
Clare Concertinas by Bernard O'Sullivan And Tommy McMahon
Happy To Meet Sorry To Part by Various Artists
In The Fields In Frost And Snow by Chris Norman
Irish Dance Music by Various Artists
Irish Traditional Music Of County Clare by Bernard O'Sullivan And Tommy McMahon
Like A Wild Thing by C�ide
Rince: Complete Irish Dancing Set - First Steps And Beyond by Various Artists
Set Dances Of Ireland, Volume I by Various Artists
Speed 78 by Mike Rafferty
Take The Bull By The Horns by Tom Doherty
The Eagle's Whistle by Michael Tubridy
The Words That Remain by Solas
Trian by Trian
Whirlwind by Brian Hughes

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

X: 1
T: Babes In The Wood
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: Dmaj
|: A/B/A/G/ FA | de f2 | g2 fe | df A2 |
A/B/A/G/ FA | de f2 | gg/g/ fe | d2 d2 :|
|: e>f ed | ce a2 | e>f ef | gf/e/ c/B/A |
e>f ed | ce a>f | ed cB | A2 A2 :|

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Another relaxed Northern polka - approximately 120 bpm...

I'll be back with at least one or two more variant transcriptions of this particular melody...

# Posted on October 1st 2004 by ceolachan

The following incorporates a couple of transcriptions and several variations, so it's not played this way 'exactly', just another offering to show 'ways' and choices, some you might like, and some you might not like:

|c/B/|AB/A/ FA|de f2|ga/g/ fe|df AF/G/|
AB/A/ FA|de fe/f/|ga/g/ fe|d2 e/d/c/B/|
A2 FA|de f2|g2 f>e|df A2|
AB/A/ F/G/A|de fe/f/|g/a/g/f/ e/d/c|d2 cd|| ef/e/ f/e/d|ce a2|ef/e/ ef|ge cA|
e>e f/e/d/B/|ce a>f|ga/g/ fe|d2 dc/d/|
e>e f>d|ce a2|ef/e/ ef|g/f/e/d/ c/B/A/c/|
ef/e/ f>d/|ce a>f|ga/g/ fe|d3||

# Posted on October 2nd 2004 by ceolachan

Sounds qite a bit like Johnny O'Leary's Maids of Ardath (see http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/466)

# Posted on October 2nd 2004 by Bannerman

I'd done a fairly thorough search, and not just on site, and there are about half a dozen 'close' tunes. The B-parts of this one and 'The Maids' are really close, but that particular B-part has gotten around and shows up elsewhere as well, sometimes what some might call 'wrongly'. I try to be careful not to duplicate things, and if I do to report them when I find out, or if I catch it in time to just add the variant in the comments of whichever tune has the longest history here. I think this one is different enough to stand on its own, and it has some history too...

Thanks for the link and comparison...well caught.

# Posted on October 2nd 2004 by ceolachan

A few polka resources:

An Pota Stór: Set Dance Music of West Kerry
ed. by Feargal MacAmhlaoibh
Inné, Kerry
ISBN 0-9522090-2-0

The Fiddlecase Book of 101 Polkas
ed. by Jack Perron & Randy Miller
Fiddlecase Books, New Hampshire 1978

Johnny O’Leary of Sliabh Luachra:
Dance Music of the Cork-Kerry Border
ed. by Terry Moylan
The Lilliput Press, Dublin 1994
ISBN 1-874675-42-2

Mally Presents 100 Irish Polkas
ed. by Dave Mallinson
Mallinson Music 1997
ISBN 1-899512-21-7

110 Ireland’s Best Polkas & Slides
ed. by Pat Conway
Walton’s Music 1999
ISBN 1-85720-086-1

# Posted on October 2nd 2004 by ceolachan

"Take The Bull By The Horns" - Tom Doherty

http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display.php/1210

Track #15 - polka #2, after "Bridge O'Leary's"... The slot for this one went 'poof!', disappeared...and the attempt to keep three slots opened for track #4 the "Three Highlands" didn't work either.

# Posted on October 2nd 2004 by ceolachan

Captain Maguire

This tune was recorded as "Babes in the Wood" by McConnell's Four Leaf Shamrocks before WWII, and has since been re-released on both Folkways and Topic.
It is a close variant of the Scottish "Liberton Pipe Band".

# Posted on March 11th 2006 by pipheath

"Babes in the Woods" ~ Duplication brought back from the future

"I found this polka in a US internet tunebook (I forgot which one). It has got nothing to do with the waltz of the same title. It´s a rather easy polka, but still has great effect when played in public."

# Posted on December 14th 2006 by Reelin´ man

K: D Major
|: AB/A/ FA | de f2 | g2 fe | df A2 |
AB/A/ FA | de f2 | g2 fe | d2 d2 :|
|: e2 ed | ce a2 | e2 ef | ge cA |
e2 ed | ce a2 | g2 fe | d2 d2 :|

# Posted on December 14th 2006 by ceolachan

ANother

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/7280

# Posted on May 30th 2007 by The Merry Highlander

In case its deleted----

X: 1
T: Babes In The Woods
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: Dmaj
|: d>e fg | a2 af | g2 fe | df A2 | d>e fg | a2 af | g2 fe | d2 d2 :|
|: e>e fd | eg fd | e>g fe | dB BA | e>e fd | eg fd | g2 fe | d2 d2 :|

# Posted on May 30th 2007 by The Merry Highlander

"Babes In The Wood" ~ another take

X: ~
T: Babes In The Wood
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: polka
K: D Major
|: F>G |
A/B/A/G/ FA | de f2 | ga/g/ fe | df A2 |
A/B/A/G/ FA | de f2 | ga/g/ fe | d2 :|
|: cd |
e>f ed | ce a2 | e>^d ef | ge cA |
e>f ed | c/d/e ab/a/ | ga/g/ fe | d2 :|

# Posted on July 23rd 2007 by ceolachan

# Posted on February 4th 2008 by hetty

"The Maids of Ardagh" ~ etc... ~ it doesn't need one more name

Contributed, instead of 'gan ainm', as "The Ballydehob Polka"
Key signature: D Major
Submitted on February 3rd 2008 by tracywag.
~ /tunes/display/8212

Please, don't circulate it with yet another new tag ~ not 'The Ballydehob' - pleeaasse!

This and its family members are already on site at least three times and the tune has been recontributed half a dozen times more. The previous is just another such 'repeat', but it is good to get versions. There are problems with the ABCs, as shown in the cut-and-paste previous that hetty has offered up. Here it is cleaned up and with the 'Comments' added. It had also been added in the 'Comments' for "The Maids of Ardagh" ~

Anyone know a name for this?

I learned it at a workshop last summer taught by Kathy Selby. She learned it in a pub session in Ballydehob, hence the (re-)name.

# Posted on February 3rd 2008 by tracywag

As said, this transcription had already been moved to the 'Comments' for "The Maids of Ardagh", the earlier contribution, 2001, with 'corrections' made to the transcript, as repeated here. I hadn't repeated the name "Ballydehob" because it was an obvoius case of not bothering to check for pre-existing titles and just grabbing the first thing that came to mind ~ "I can't remember the title for this. We're in Ballydehob. I'll call it 'The Ballydehob Polka'..." ~ 'gan ainm' would have been truer and more considerate...

# Posted on February 4th 2008 by ceolachan