Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

The Bee's Wing

hornpipe

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on September 2nd 2002 by Paul-Kin.

This tune has been added to 101 tunebooks.

Also known as Bee's Wing, The Bee's Wings, Bees Wing, The Bees Wing , Beeswing, The Beeswing.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

Best Of Finbarr Dwyer by Finbarr Dwyer
Colin Grant by Colin Grant
Dialogues / Agallaimh by Maire Ni Chathasaigh And Chris Newman
Dialogues: Agallamh by Chris Newman And Maire Cathasaigh
Drioball Na Fáinleoige by Johnny Connolly
Fiddler's Fancy: The Music Of James Hill by Tom McConville
In Session by Eoin O'Neill
Land's End by Michael Rooney And June McCormack
Legacy by The Dunne Family
No Boundaries by Natalie MacMaster
No Songs by Martin Carthy And Dave Swarbrick
Portraid by Sean Maguire
Portrait Of A Scottish Jew's Harp Player by Lindsay Porteous
Return To Inis Mor by Joe Derrane
Sean McGuire Plays by Sean Maguire
Simple Tricks by Angus Lyon And Ruaridh Campbell
Sixty Years Of Sean Maguire by Sean Maguire
The Bee's Wing by The Turloughmore Ceili Band
The Bucks Of Oranmore by Joe Burke
The Drones And The Chanters Vol.2 by Various Artists
The Morning After by Beneche
The Nightingale (And Other Lesser Spotted Tunes ...) by Josephine Keegan
The Selkies' Song by Debbie Scott
The Well Tempered Bow by Liz And Yvonne Kane
Walking Stones by Ken Kolodner, Laura Risk, Robin Bullock
WhY2Keilidh by Howie MacDonald

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

X: 1
T: Bee's Wing, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: Gmaj
DF|G>dB<G F>cA<F|D>BG<D B,>GD<B,|C>EA<c B,>DvG>vB|(3AGF (3GFE D2EF|
G>dB<g F>dA<f|C>GE<c B,>GD<B|C>EA>c B>AG>F|A2G2 G2:|
|:dc|B<Gd>B g>dB>G|A<Fd>A f>dA>F|E<CG>E c>AB>G|(3AGF (3GFE D2EF|
G>dB<g F>dA<f|C>GE<c B,>GD<B|C>EA>c B>AG>F|A2G2 G2:|
|:(3FGA|G>d (3BAG F>c (3AGF|G>d (3BAG D>CB,>D|C>EA<c B,>DG>B|(3A^GA (3ge^c d2D>E|
(3GBd (3gdB (3FAd (3fdA|(3CEG (3cGE (3B,DG (3BGD|C>EA>c B>AG>F|A2G2 G2:|
|:dc|(3BAG (3dBd (3gdc (3BAG|(3AGF (3dAd (3fdA (3AGF|
(3ECE (3GEG (3cBA (3BAG|(3A^GA (3ge^c d2D>E|
(3GBd (3gdB (3FAd (3fdA|(3CEG (3cGE (3B,DG (3BGD|C>EA>c B>AG>F|A2G2 G2:||

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Bee's Wing

Very difficult tune to play. It was in B flat but I changed it to G because B flat tunes don't suit the Banjo or don't sound right.

# Posted on September 2nd 2002 by Paul-Kin

Bees wing

I have an album of Kathryn Tickell who plays northumbrian pipes and fiddle. She plays a version of the bees wing on the fiddle and on the liner notes it says that the tune The Bee's Wing was composed by James Hill of Gateshead. Bee's Wing, according to the notes, was a famous Newcastle racehorse in the late 1800's. There is a version of someone (can't remember who and I don't have the cd to hand) playing it on Uilleann Pipes on the Drones and the Chanters Vol 2.

# Posted on September 2nd 2002 by geb

Natalie MacMaster's version is very similar to this. She plays it marvelously.

# Posted on September 5th 2002 by SPeak

The Piper

The piper is Joe McLaughlin of Derry City, an excellent piper and younger brother of fiddler Dermot. When are these two going to record a CD?

# Posted on September 6th 2002 by LongNote

Hornpipe? Hang on a sec . . .

This sounds more like a strathspey to me, with all the Scotch snaps and triplets. Top tune!

# Posted on September 6th 2002 by Jonathan

Hornpipe - most definately

Yup, this is a Hornpipein the Newcastle (N.E.England) style and its a great tune. Its most certainly not a strathspey and its definately not a rant. I can't think why anyone would considerit tosound Scots asisarchitypically Northumbrian. Irish players (and many American ones) tend flatten out hornpipes and miss out the internal syncopations but they have moved along way from the original when they do this. Musichall hornpipes (like The Stage, The Acrobat, President Garfield) are close to this style. There are some of us who believe that they would be more accurately written in 12/8 than in 4/4.

Kathryn Tickell probably plays the most accurate version of all the recordings I have heard as she plays it in the Newcastle style, in the original key, on a fiddle. James Hill was nicknamed "The Newcastle Paganini" and his tunes are generally demanding. Changing key to make it easy is a cheat!.
Noel Jackson
Angelsof the North

# Posted on September 7th 2002 by noelbats

James HILL tune

Definitely a hornpipe from the playing of James Hill who was most famous for his playing of this type of tune.
Tom McConville has made a CD well worthwhile listening to of James Hill's tunes. What's an English hornpipe doing in an ITM site?

# Posted on January 13th 2003 by Susie-Lee

The hornpipe came from England originally, according to the experts. Plenty of them were of English composition as well.
Piper Joe McLauglin plays this in D on the Drones and Chanters II, with a high D.

# Posted on August 31st 2004 by Kevin Rietmann

Beeswing

Susie-Lee said "what's an English hornpipe doing in an ITM site?"

Have a look at the list of recordings this tune appears on for a start.

I agree with Noel - changing the key to G is a cheat!

I don't know why people make such an almighty fuss about this hornpipe being difficult. There's no reason to show off with it. Just control that ego and enjoy it for the beautiful tune that it is.

I don't think the variations (3rd and 4th parts) add much to the tune to be honest. Most of the early settings of the tune from 19th century manuscripts e.g. Ryan/Cole's have the tune in 2 parts only, and with no strathspey-like Scotch snaps. These early settings are all something along the lines of this:

The main part where the settings differ is that triplet run which sometimes appears as |(3cBA (3BAG F2GA| or |(3cdB (3ABG F2GA|.

# Posted on September 16th 2004 by Dow

Kathryn Tickell's setting

The version on her album has the variations but no Scotch snaps:

# Posted on September 17th 2004 by Dow

Hornpipe eh?

isn't this a clog??

# Posted on October 12th 2004 by twin fiddler

The stage hornpipes used for clog dances were a type of hornpipe.

# Posted on October 12th 2004 by Dow

James Hill

James Hill was born in Scotland and came to Newcastle when fairly young - he wasn't a native of the area. Whatever his own playing style might have been, though, he was obviously able to please the local audiences and dancers.

# Posted on August 1st 2006 by nicholas

Tom Mcelvogue plays this on flute:

http://www.tommcelvogue.com/music/OutTakes/08-The%20Beeswing%20Hornpipe.mp3

He plays it on a Rudall D flute in Bb, wow!!

This is what he says:
Standard fiddle Hornpipe played on Rudall D Flute. I let this one go as I like the way that the "wheels come off" steadily throughout the tune. What was actually happening was the spring was going on my B flat key. At the end of the set the key broke so that curbed my enthusiasm for using this for my CD.

# Posted on August 2nd 2006 by michael_coleman

B-flat

This tune is great fun in B flat on a fiddle. I have been playing it from Peter Cooper's book.

# Posted on December 18th 2006 by crazy_fingerz

Bflat

Fun on the banjo in b flat, a good stretch! Don't bother with the 3 and 4th parts though, don't think they ad much to the tune and detract from the prettyness of the first two parts.

# Posted on June 21st 2007 by TallJim

Bee's Wing

Don't know if its a true hornpipe I'll leave that question to the experts here all I know is that this is a beautiful song period! And I am glad I found it to play on my mandolin.

# Posted on September 29th 2007 by pcaretti

Tune format

I was wondering if anyone could help me in understanding the format of this tune. Also how many times you would each part/ the tune in competition??

Thanks!

# Posted on December 31st 2007 by Laura ##

Flute Player, Cathal Mac An Rí, plays it in Bb with fiddler Tara Breen in this video.

http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_232_4_tara_breen_and_cathal_mac_an_ri_fiddle_flute_duet

# Posted on July 1st 2008 by Phantom Button

B flat fans

If you read the sheet music as bass clef, add two flats to the appropriate ledger lines and taa daa! You are playing it in B flat. Yay.

# Posted on July 22nd 2008 by Piper Layer