Key signature: Dmajor
Submitted on September 26th 2008 by jakep.
This tune has been added to 6 tunebooks.
Also known as The Flaxen-Headed Ploughboy, The Ploughboy.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Curly Headed Ploughboy, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
ag |: f2a2 d2f2 | B4 A2d2 | cdef g2f2 | f4 e2ag |
f2a2 defd | B4 A2d2 | cdef g2c2 |1 d4 d2ag :|2 d4 d2a2 |]
K:A
[| g2gg gefg | a2aa a2a2 | g2gg gefg | a2aa a2a2 |
g2gg gefg | a2e2 f2d2 | c2e2 d2B2 | A4 A2a=g |]
K:D
[| f2a2 defd | B4 A2d2 | cdef g2f2 | f4 e2ag |
f2a2 d2f2 | B4 A2d2 | cdef g2c2 | d4 d2ag |]
Harveston Castle
This was composed by Jimmy Shand Snr. I learnt it from the playing of Jimmy Shand Jnr.
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by jakep
So why post it here?
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by Kenny
What?
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by jakep
Jake - I think you are mistaken about the composer. I know this as a traditional English tune, The Curly Headed Ploughboy http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/tuneget?F=GIF&U=http://www.banjolin.co.uk/tunes/abcs/curly.abc&X=60&T=CURLYHEADEDPLOUGHBOY
It may be played in Scotland as well, and known by the name you have given, but I think it was around a long time before Jimmy Shand Sr..
I think what Kenny is saying is, this site is intended to be for *Irish Traditional* music. If this tune were, as you say, composed by Jimmy Shand Sr., then it would be neither Irish nor Traditional.
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by ragaman
Well, I checked for composer information on http://my.strathspey.org/ and it stated Jimmy Shand as the composer. On the CD I learnt it from, it is labelled as 'Harveston Castle', but the tune after it on the CD is labelled as 'The Ploughboy'. So perhaps there is a mix-up on the CD.
Also, if site is intended only for Irish traditional music, why is there a separate tune category for strathspeys?
And there are hundreds of other tunes on the website that are neither Irish or Traditional, and nobody has complained about them.
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by jakep
I have looked at other sources and found out that this is 'The Curly Headed Ploughboy'. The listing on the CD is wrong.
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by jakep
Sorry everybody. I am so embarrassed.
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by jakep
"Also, if site is intended only for Irish traditional music, why is there a separate tune category for strathspeys?"
Well, the lines are fuzzy. Strathpeys are popular in parts of Donegal and The North. Anyway, Jake, no need to be embarrassed (Is there an 'embarrassed' emoticon? :-ß ) - you wouldn't be the first to post a tune with little or no relevance to Irish music. It's just that some people are concerned that this site is being swamped by non-Irish tunes. If not for these people, perhaps it would be.
# Posted on September 29th 2008 by ragaman
The Curly-Headed Ploughboy
Way back in the 1950s, the BBC used traditional tunes to introduce programmes, to avoid having to pay royalties to composers. This particular tune was used to introduce an early morning market report for farmers - on the equivalent of today' s Radio 4 (then called the "Home Service"). This being the case, it wouldn't have been written by Jimmy Shand. It's also known as the Flaxen-Headed Ploughboy, so I've added this name as an alternative. I believe it to be an Engish tune, and if this is the case, no doubt someone will complain that it shouldn't be here at all. But where' s the harm, I say. If you don't like it (for whatever reason) no-one's forcing you to play it!
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by Mix O'Lydian
If no English tunes are allowed either, then what about the category for 3/2s?
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by jakep
"If no English tunes are allowed either, then what about the category for 3/2s?"
That's a fair point, Jake. That category wasn't there from the start - it was added later at the request of a few members. Perhaps they caught Jeremy in a moment of weakness - or perhaps he just thought that these tunes were too good not to be submitted, even if they were not Irish.
But the fact remains, this site is about Irish music and things relating to it. You can post non-Irish tunes if you like, but don't be surprised if they're not well-received by some members. I am just explaining Kenny's reaction, not expressing my own view.
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by ragaman
Strathspeys and other 'foriegn' tunes
Strathspeys were popular dances in 19th centuary Ireland. See the popularity of the Caledonian. And take the trouble to read the preface to the Roche collection regarding the damage done to the music by idealistic 'Nationalists'
# Posted on October 1st 2008 by Alancorsini
The Ploughboy
Benjamin Britten composed his very famous arrangment of this song in 1945. Discussions on Mudcat list it as a song as early as 1787, though not necessarily with the tune we are now familiar with.
# Posted on October 2nd 2008 by benhall.1