The Maid At The Well

jig

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on June 10th 2002 by Northcregg.

This tune has been added to 205 tunebooks.

Also known as Arthur McBride, Bill The Weaver's, The Black Stripper, The Blackthorn Stick, The Castle Street , The Clonmore, The Hawk From Dundalk, The Kilkenny, Maid A The Well, Maid At The Well, Maids Of Glenroe, The Maids Of Glenroe, The Milkmaid, Pat Curtin's, Silver Tip.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

A Tribute To John McKenna by Mick Woods
Across The Waves by Cherish The Ladies
After The Tempest by Figgy Duff
Ah, Surely! by Eddie Cahill
Andy Irvine/Paul Brady by Andy Irvine And Paul Brady
Another Measure: Scottish Country Dance Music From The 1950's, Volume 2 by Adam Rennie And His Scottish Country Dance Quartet
As We Got Them: Traditional Flute And Fiddle Music From County Sligo by Various Artists
At The Feis by John Doonan
Between The Strings by Adrian McAuliffe And Cathal Flood
Briary Lads by Aidan Crossey
Cé by Cé
Celtic Ceili by Various Artists
Celtic Graces: A Best Of Ireland by Various Artists
Celtic Harp II: From A Distant Time by Patrick Ball
Celtic Reels And Jigs - The Blackberry Blossom by Various Artists
Celtic Thunder by Celtic Thunder
Ceol & Cuimhne / Music & Memory by Teada
Collection Of Jigs And Reels by Shaskeen
Cuig by Blackbeers
Dance Album by The Bushwhackers Band
Dónal Ring Céilí Band 21st Anniversary CD by Dónal Ring
East Of The Tracks by Brigetown
Emerald Castles by Richard Searles
Farewell To Evening Dances by Colm O'Donnell
Fibb'nacci Sequence by Knot Fibb'n
Foinn Seisiun 3 by Ennis/Dublin Session Group
Four On The Floor by Old Blind Dogs
Gander In The Pratie Hole by Carlos Plumley And Mike Herr
In The Footsteps Of Coleman by Various Artists
Instrumental by The Dubliners
Irish Dancer by Larry McKee And The Shandonairs
Irish Traditional Music And Song by Shaskeen
Irish Whistles by Various Artists
Johnny O'Leary Of Sliabh Luachra by Johnny O'Leary
Keepers Of Tradition: Concertina Players Of County Clare by Various Artists
Kerry's Own Paddy Cronin by Paddy Cronin
Land Of Sunshine by Dan Possumato
Let Down The Blade by John Regan And Paddy Glackin
Live 2004 by Planxty
Live At The Crane by Dusty Banjos
Merrily Kissed The Quaker by The Blacksmiths
Midsummer's Night by Dervish
Music At Matt Molloy's by Matt Molloy
Music From The Coleman Country by Various Artists
Music In Exile: A Celebration Of Comhaltas In Leeds by Leeds CCE
No Borders by Meascán
Old Irish Melodeon Masterpieces by Alan Morrisroe
Rossinver Braes by Ben Lennon And Tony O'Connell
Round The House And Mind The Dresser: Irish Country House Dance Music by Various Artists
Rud Eile by Rud Eile
Saint Bushmill's Choir by Saint Bushmill's Choir
Sea Changes Of The Toucan Pirates by Toucan Pirates
Set Dancing Downunder by The Coast Ceili Band
Set On Stone by The Kilfenora Ceili Band
Shake Your Shamrocks by Various Artists
Steam by John Williams
Swarbrick 1 by Dave Swarbrick
Swarbrick 2 by Dave Swarbrick
Take To The Floor by Haste To The Wedding
Taking Note by Meitheal Cheoil
Teada by Teada
The Ballydesmond Polka by Dan Herlihy And John Drew
The Best Ever Traditional Irish Pub Session Volume Two by Various Artists
The Dusty Miller by Conor, Gay And Seán McKeon
The Final Round CD 1 by Kevin Joyce
The First Month Of Spring by John Vesey And Paul Brady
The Flute Players Of Roscommon Vol 2 by Various Artists
The Frost Is All Over by Paul McGrattan
The Irish Girl by Robin Bullock And Michel Sikiotakis
The Jolly Tinker by Kane O'Rourke
The Kitchen Recordings by Sean O'Driscoll And Larry Egan
The Liberty Tapes by Paul Brady
The Living Stream by Matt Cranitch And Jackie Daly
The Long Notes by Brian Kelly, Jamie Smith, And Collette O'Leary
The Maid At The Well by Tony O'Rourke
The Man Of The House by Tom Moran
The Maple Leaf by Jimmy Noonan, Chris McGrath
The Merry Love To Play by Peter Horan And Gerry Harrington
The Michael Sexton Ceili Band by The Michael Sexton Ceili Band
The Music Of Kevin Keegan by Kevin Keegan
The Roseland Barndance by North Cregg
The Stone In The Field by Tommy Reck
The Tidy Cottage by Turlach Boylan
The Whirlwind by Paddy Glackin And Robbie Hannan
The Wind Among The Reeds by Tommy Keane And Jaqueline McCarthy
Think Before You Think by Danu
To Meet A Friend by Josephine Marsh & Cyril O'Donoghue
Tony O'Connell And Andy Morrow by Tony O'Connell And Andy Morrow
Toss The Feathers by Ted Furey And Brendan Byrne
Traditional Irish Dance Rhythms by Various Artists
Traditional Irish Music by William Sullivan
Unison by Jack Brennan
Water From The Well by The Chieftains
Whistle Stop by Brian Hughes
With Eugene O'Donnell by Mick Moloney

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

EASY JIG

This I think this is a nice jig for a learner, I like it played at a steady easy tempo. The second line does not have to be played at the end put it gives a nice finish to the tune. Thanks Jeremy for correcting the key!!!!!!.

# Posted on June 10th 2002 by Northcregg

On Music at Matt Molloy's, it's played in A (I cant remember by whom) - the middle tune in a set with the Kilmovee and The Geese in the Bog (C/Am version).

# Posted on June 13th 2002 by CreadurMawnOrganig

Other settings

I've just tried to post this and had it blocked because I hadn't realised it was already there. Anyway I might as well cut and paste the settings I was going to post anyway since they're slightly different from the above:

GED ~D3|GEG c2e|dBG GAB|AGE {G}EDE|GED ~D3|GEG c2e|dBG GAB|1 AGF G2D:|2 AGF G2d||
gdB GBd|gdB c2e|dBG GAB|AGE ~E3|gdB GBd|gdB c2e|dBG GAB|AGF G2d|
gdB GBd|gdB c2e|dBG GAB|AGE {G}EDE|GED ~D3|GEG c2e|dBG GAB|AGF G2D||

%2nd Setting
GED {E}DB,D|GAB c2e|dBG {B}AGA|BAG EDE|GED {E}DB,D|GAB c2e|dBG {B}AGA|1 BGF G2D:|2 BGF GBd||
gdd edd|gdB c2e|dBG {B}AGA|BAG ~E3|gdd edd|gdB c2e|dBG {B}AGA|BGF GBd|gdd edd|gdB c2e|dBG {B}AGA|BAG EDE|
GED DB,D|GAB c2e|dBG {B}AGA|BGF G2D||

# Posted on December 3rd 2002 by Dr. Dow

Good stuff Dow, particularly showing the cut notes and contrasting the two settings. Thanks!

# Posted on December 3rd 2002 by Will Harmon

This tune shows up as #13 in Breandan Breathnach's "Ceol Rince na hEireann" (vol. 1, '63), and it's basically the same as Dow's 1st setting, with the exception of the 9th and 10th bars of the B part, which read thus:

...gdd gdd|gdB cde|dBG GAB etc...

otherwise, good job, Dow! Breathnach lists alternate names for the tune as "The Milkmaid", "The Black Stripper" (don't ask), "The Kilkenny Jig", "The Maids of Glenroe", "Arthur McBride", and "The Castle Street Jig". (whew!) That is, I think he does: it's all in Gaelic!

# Posted on November 6th 2003 by JHowley

Pipers call this the Blackthorn stick, it comes from John Potts, grandfather of Chieftain Sean Potts.

# Posted on October 2nd 2004 by KLR

# Posted on January 5th 2005 by gian marco

A-version from the playing of thomas togher, boxplayer:

T: Maid At The Well, The
S: Tom Togher
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K:Amaj
|:AFE EFE|ABc d2f|ecA ABc|BAF FEF|
| AFE EFE|ABc d2f|ecA ABc||1 BAA A2F:|2 BAA A2a||
|: aee ece|aec d2f|ecA ABc|BAF FEF|
|1 aee ece|aec d2f|ecA ABc|BAA A2a:|
|2 AFE EFE|ABc d2f|ecA ABc|BAA A2F||

# Posted on February 8th 2005 by MM

"The Hawk from Dundalk"

Submitted on June 13th 2004 by errik.
K: G Major
|: G2 D EGD | GAB c3 | ded ABG | AGE EDE |
G2 D EDE | GAB c3 | ded ABG |1 AGF GFG :|2 AGF GBd ||
gdd edd | gdB ~c3 | ded ABG | AGE E2 f |
gdd edd | gdB ~c3 | ded ABG | AGF GBd |
gdd edd | gdB ~c3 | ded ABG | AGE EDE |
G2 D EGD|GAB c3 | ded ABG | AGF G3 ||

# Posted on January 31st 2006 by ceolachan

"Pat Curtin's" ~ "The Michael Sexton Ceili Band"

= "The Maid at the Well"
K: G Major
|: G2 D EDE | GAB c2 d | edc B2 A | BGE EDE |
G2 D EDE | GAB c2 d | edc B2 A | BGF G3 :|
|: g2 d ede | gdB c2 d | edc B2 A | BGE EDE |
[1 g2 d ede | gdB c2 d | edc B2 A | BGF G3 :|
[2 G2 D EDE | GAB c2 d | edc B2 A | BGF G3 ||

Tunes like this, especially after all the twisted and disagreeable compositions that keep plopping out, are a joy. A 'respected' friend recently wrote, today, regarding 'new' composition ~

"Often they're quite badly written and totally lack any sort of theme, "hook" or balance of any sort." (Dow/Mark)

Yes, I know, I've been playing through a load of such codswallop lately, as if 'twist' and 'disagreement' were 'cute'. You can only take so much of such cuteness or show, "See what I can do!" Alright, experiment, go all over hell, but don't necessarily expect the resultant mess to sit around forever. Too often the 'creations' we are party to show no real understanding of the tradition we'd like to append them to, so why bother. In the end, realizing the democracy of it, folks will give it a try if they chose and make their choices.

This lovely simple tune has just two parts and they only differ in the first two bars, the second part being a reflection up an octave of the first. These tunes aren't uncommon, but the joy in something like this is in teaching them, giving them interest and life, and gaining an understanding of structure too many new composers, at least in their output, seem to have very little understanding of, or maybe it is a case of 'appreciation'. This tune is one of my wife's favourites, and it is a favourite of dancers, because it speaks to them, because the phrasing and rhythm helps them, because it is something you can leave the dance floor and the hall singing. It is as comfortable as an old shoe.

# Posted on January 31st 2006 by ceolachan

K: A Major
|: G |
A2 E FEF | ABc d2 e | fed c2 B | cAF FEF |
A2 E FEF | ABc d2 e | fec d2 B | cAA A2 :|
|: e |
a2 e fef | aec d2 e | fed c2 B | cAF FEF |
[1 a2 e fef | aec d2 e | fec d2 B | cAA A2 :|
[2 A2 E FEF | ABc d2 e | fec d2 B | cAA A2 ||

# Posted on January 31st 2006 by ceolachan

The Maid...

Harry Bradley recorded a different version of this as McKenna's on the marching band flute, naming it after the Leitrim flute legend.

# Posted on January 31st 2006 by slainte

# Posted on July 3rd 2006 by swisspiper

"The Maids of Glenrose"

Here's another take from the lads on The Maple Leaf cd, out of Boston.

X: 1
T: Maids of Glenrose, The
D: Maple Leaf, The; Chris McGrath, Jimmy Noonan
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: G
GDD EDD|GAB c2 d|edc BcA|BGE EDE|
GDD EDD|GAB c2 d|edc BcA|1 AGF ~G3:|2 AGF GB/c/d||
gdd edd|gdB c2 d|edc BcA|BGE Eef|
gdd edd|gdB c2 d|edc BcA|AGF GB/c/d|
gdd edd|gdB c2 d|edc BcA|BGE EDE|
GDD EDD|GAB c2 d|edc BcA|AGF ~G3||

# Posted on April 18th 2007 by Will Harmon

"The Black Stripper"

If anybody's interested, this is a mining implement.

# Posted on June 24th 2007 by ethical blend

"The Maid at the Well" / "Bill Collin's Jig" ~ from a discussion

# Posted on February 18th 2008 by ceolachan

The Silver tip

At the 2008 Irish Arts Fest in Durham, NY, John McElvoy taught the version offered by Gian Marco (Jimmy Noonan), He called it "Silver Tip". A great class and a fun tune!

# Posted on January 2nd 2009 by musicstudent

YouTube ~ Randy Miller plays "The Clonmore Jig" / "The Maid at the Well"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7xmz39zhSk

# Posted on July 30th 2010 by ceolachan