The Cat On The Roof

reel

Key signature: Dmajor

Submitted on July 17th 2002 by Josh Kane.

This tune has been added to 53 tunebooks.

Also known as The Bright Lady, The Daisy Field, The Daisy Fields, The Glenties , The Irish Girl, The Wild Irishman.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• A Tribute To Joe Cooley by Frankie Gavin, Paul Brock, Charlie Lennon
• A Tribute To Michael Coleman by Joe Burke, Andy McGann And Felix Dolan
• Ace And Deuce by Ace And Deuce
• Against The Storm by John And Phil Cunningham
• An Bhabog Sa Bhadog by Kevin Crehan
• Baker's Well by Baker's Well
• Bakerswell by Bakerswell
• Bealoideas by Oisin
• Caise Ceoil by Various Artists
• Capel Street by James Kelly
• Champion Of Champions by Sean Maguire
• Crossing Point by Daimh
• Dance Music Of Ireland: Jigs And Reels by Various Artists
• Dancing On Silver by Tim Collins
• Dancing To Jigs And Reels by Various Artists
• Dog Big And Dog Little by Ben Lennon, Seamus Quinn, Gabriel McArdle, Ciaran Curran
• Dusk Till Dawn by Charlie Lennon And Johnny Og Connolly
• Empty Pockets by Skip Healy
• Evergreen by Becky Tracy
• Farewell To Lough Neaghe by Bonnie Shaljean
• Fiddle On The Fiddle by Sean Maguire
• Fiddle Sticks, Irish Traditional Music From Donegal by Various Artists
• Fidil by Ciarán Ó Maonaigh And Aidan O'Donnell
• Foinn Seisiun 3 by Ennis/Dublin Session Group
• Folktrax-173: Willie Clancy And Bobby Casey by Willie Clancy And Bobby Casey
• Further Down The Old Plank Road by The Chieftains
• Glackin by Paddy Glackin
• Good Friends-Good Music by Boys Of The Lough
• Gusty's Frolicks by Sean Keane
• Hibernian Rhapsody by De Danann
• Hives Of Honeyed Sound by Padraic Mac Mathuna
• I Am The Wee Falorie Man by David Hammond
• If Ida Been Here, Ida Been There by Craobh Rua
• In Full Spate by Paddy Glackin
• In Good Company - The Very Best Of by Kevin Burke
• Instrumental by Franz Sanger And Susan Frances
• Irish Dances by Jimmy Power
• Irish Traditional Fiddle Music by John Kelly And James Kelly With Michael Crehan And Michael Gavin
• Irish Violin by Jackie Roche
• Just For Gordon by Gordon Duncan
• Kelly/O'Brien/Sproule by Kelly, O'Brien and Sproule
• La Veillée Des Veillées by Various Artists
• Lament by Various Artists
• Memories Of Sligo by Tommy Healy And Johnny Duffy
• Music From The Coleman Country by Various Artists
• Mysterious Ireland by Various Artists
• On TSean - Am Anall by Danny O'Donnell
• Paddy Keenan by Paddy Keenan
• Piper's Choice Volume 1 by Various Artists
• Portland by Kevin Burke And Mícheál O'Domhnaill
• Reed Only by Tim Collins/Brian McNamara
• Round The House: Music For The Sets Volume 1 by Various Artists
• Seamus Tansey With Eddie Corcoran by Seamus Tansey
• Sláinte by Sheevon
• Sparks On The Flags by The Bridge Céilí Band
• Special Instrumental - Le Fiddle Irlandais Par Ted Furey by Ted Furey
• Stockton's Wing by Stockton's Wing
• Take A Bow by Matt Cranitch
• The Brass Fiddle: Traditional Fiddle Music From Donegal by Various Artists
• The Dawn by Baal Tinne
• The Gravel Walks: The Fiddle Music Of Mickey Doherty by Mickey Doherty
• The Irish Girl by Robin Bullock And Michel Sikiotakis
• The Professor by James Morrison
• The Road From Ballinakill by Mike And Mary Rafferty
• The Road To Glenlough by James Byrne
• The Singing Kettle by Chulrua
• The Twentieth Anniversary Collection by Various Artists
• The Wheels Of The World, Early Irish American Music, Vol. 1 by Various Artists
• The Wynd You Know by Ronan Browne
• Traditional Irish Music by James Kelly
• Traditional Music From The Legendary East Clare Fiddler by Paddy Canny
• Traditional Music Of Ireland by Paddy O'Brien
• Within A Mile Of Dublin by Paul O'Shaughnessy And Paul McGrattan

X: 1
T: Cat On The Roof, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|: ~F2FE DEFD | EG,G,G, EG, (3G,G,G, | F2FE DEFA | (3Bcd ec dBAG |
~F2FE DEFD | EG,G,G, EG~G2 | F2FE DEFA | cdec d3e :|
|:fd~d2 dfaf | edcd efge | fddc dfaf | gfeg fd (3ddd |
fddc df~a2 | edcd efge | dfaf ~g2ag | faeg fdd2 :|

The Cat on the Roof

Other names for this tune are "The Irish Girl" or "The Wild Irishman"- it goes nicely after O'Rourke's reel "d|cBA eA fAeA| cBA ec dfed|cA AAA fd ddd|fage dfed| etc". The tune would have been part of the repertoire of the great Sligo fiddlers Michael Coleman and James Morrison in the early part of the 20th century.

# Posted on July 18th 2002 by Bannerman

Wild Irishman

shouldn't those be A,'s & not G,'s? in the second measure or am I thinking of another tune?

# Posted on December 16th 2002 by Mad Baloney

I keep scratching my head as well

This not the Wild Irishman that I know so that doesn't help with my quandry. I know that I have played this tune before - somewhere. It's quite distinctive. The only differences are the g's versus the a's that Brad pointed.

# Posted on December 16th 2002 by Mark Cordova

The Cat on the Roof (The Irish Girl)

Both James Morrison and Packie Dolan (who recorded this tune as "The Irish Girl" in the '20s and '30s) played A's instead of G's in the second measure. O'Neill's "1001", in which it is called "The Daisy Field", also shows A's instead of G's, but as written out rolls.

Interestingly, Morrison and Dolan both played the tune without repeats, and this is how it is also presented in O'Neill. So in those days each half was 4 measures repeated. Perhaps it is the modern custom to double the length of these older shorter tunes and turn them into two repeated 8-measure sections - I can't think of a good reason why.

In O'Neill, the "Wild Irishman" is known as "Boil the Breakfast Early". Perhaps the name "Wild Irishman" applied to this tune is a spurious one-off; or possibly the result of some confusion along the line, which
could have arisen out of a (very) broad general similarity between the second parts of "Boil the Breakfast Early" and this tune.

# Posted on August 12th 2006 by lazyhound