The Boys Of 25

reel

Key signature: Dmajor

Submitted on June 7th 2005 by Oi Freakin Oi.

This tune has been added to 31 tunebooks.

Also known as The Boys Of The 25, The Boys Of Twenty Five, Boys Of Twenty-Five, The Boys Of Twenty-Five.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• Cherish The Ladies by Peg McGrath, Kathleen Smyth, Mary Mulholland
• Hand-Me-Downs by Mary Rafferty
• Hidden Fermanagh Vol.2 by Various Artists
• Jig Away The Donkey by Gabriel McArdle
• Live At Passim by Boys Of The Lough
• No Matter How Cold And Wet You Are by Craobh Rua
• The Best Of Sean McGuire by Sean Maguire
• The Piper's Apron by Tommy Keane
• The Pipes Are Calling by Peter And Noel Carberry
• The West Of Ireland by Boys Of The Lough

X: 1
T: Boys Of 25, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|=CAAF G2 AB|=CAAG Ad d2|=CAAF G2 eg|fded Ad d2|=CAAF G2 AB|=CAAG Ad d2|=CAAF G2 ag|fded Ad d2|f2 fg a2 ag|fefg afde|f2 fg a2 ag|fded Ad d2|f2 fg a2 ag|fefg af d2|fgaf g2 ag|fded Ad d2|

Don't know much....

This is a tune I picked up from a friend of mine where he played it after Rolling in the Ryegrass. He said he got it from his Clarke Tin Whistle handbook (by Bill Ochs according to Amazon). This is my first attempt at ABC format, so don't be suprised if I messed it up four ways from Sunday.

# Posted on June 7th 2005 by Oi Freakin Oi

Welcome

Welcome to the "Session", "oi". I'd been intending to post this tune myself, so you've saved me the bother. Not a tune you hear very often, in my experience. The "Boys Of The Lough" used to play it over 30 years ago, although I don't think they ever recorded it. Your "abcs" look more or less OK to me, but I'm not sure that the key should be "D" - [ "Dow" ? ] - and I think some of the "c" notes should be played natural. I'll post the "abcs" I have, but their won't be much difference.

# Posted on June 7th 2005 by Kenny

Re: Boys of Twenty Five

I play it regularly in the vain hope that somebody else will learn it. I think "B of L" did record it sometime w. McConnell soloing on the whistle and the band then going into "The Boyne Hunt". At least, that is the medley playing in my head as I write. For northern musicians, the tune is forever associated with the late Fermanagh fiddler Mick Hoy who acquired it from Andy (?) Cassidy, about whom I know nothing. Nor do I know what the 25 refers to. More of Mick's tunes can be heard on the two excellent "Hidden Fermanagh" recordings. Any one of these is worth more than all your "insert super-group name" CDs put together.

# Posted on June 7th 2005 by LongNote

Adjustment

Getting to listen to the MIDI, I found a part where I fudged it: in the second and sixth measure I had it ending with AD D2, where it should have been Ad d2. Sounds better this way. I fixed it in the ABC. Otherwise, I think it sounds okay.

# Posted on June 8th 2005 by Oi Freakin Oi

And another

And yes, those should all be C naturals. D'oh! Good call, Kenny. I'll fix it once I figure out how to write a natural in ABC. it's =C, right? I hope so, because that's what I'm writing.

# Posted on June 8th 2005 by Oi Freakin Oi

Perhaps it belongs in Dmix if all of the c's are nats.

# Posted on June 8th 2005 by Will Harmon

I don't think I've heard this one before. It's nice. The A-part reminds me a bit of The Bunch Of Green Rushes.

# Posted on June 8th 2005 by Dr. Dow

Great tune

Ha super! I heard this tune for the first time a couple months ago when I was introduced to the fabulous recording put out by Peter and Noel Carberry - a grand tune on the pipes to be sure! I'll inspect for any variants.

# Posted on June 9th 2005 by _Steph_

Something wrong here. Aren't those A-part c's an octave too low? I learned the tune from a Boys of the Lough recording when it first came out. I hate to think it was 30 years ago. I had already heard of Mick Hoy, but hadn't yet met him. Here is the way I currently play it minus various cuts to separate double notes etc (does it ever make sense to put those in?) but with rolls indicated. It's not significantly different from what has been already been posted. My ignorance will show, but as it wouldn't be the first time, I'll ask anyway. Since most of the c's are natural, does this make it Dmix?

K: Dmix
dB|: =cAAF G2AB|=cABG AddB|=cAAF G2eg|fdec AddB|
=cAAF ~G2AB|=cABG AddB|=cAAF ~G2 e/f/g|fdec Adde||
f2fg a2ag|fefg afde|fefg abag|fdec Adde|
~f3g ~a3g|f3g afde|feaf gbag|fdec AddB||

# Posted on July 18th 2005 by LongNote

As I recall..

This is how I remember "The Boys Of 25" - the differences from the above versions are fairly minor, but I see that "LongNote" has more variations in his 2nd part.

=cAAF G2 AB | =cABG Ad d2 | =cAAF G2 eg | fdec AddB |
=cAAF G2 AB | =cABG Ad d2 | =cAAF G2 eg | fdec Adde |
f3 g a2 ag | fefg afde | fgaf g2 ag | fdec Adde |
f3 g a2 ag | fefg afde | fgaf g2 ag | fdec Ad d2 |

# Posted on July 29th 2005 by Kenny