Odd tune names revisited

[Cayden]

Around a year ago Bloomfield started a thread about odd tune names, some gems emerged from it. Time has moved on since and without doubt new titles will have emerged since, so maybe it’s time for an update.
‘The Farting Badger’ is under discussion elsewhere. Earlier this week I came across a tune in the Goodman collection named ‘The Black Stripper’ although I think when Goodman compiled the collection during the middle of the 19th century the title would have evoked a different image than it does today. I can offer you a half composed tune in honour of a particular left handed player who think very highly of himself, ‘The Left Handed Wanker’ the tune will probably sport the same type of asymmetrical rhythm as that other one ‘The Clumsy Lover’.

Any offerings?

[E = Fb]

I've noticed that the "rude" tune names tend to be Scottish. Recently a friend and I passed the time while on a trip by thinking up odd modern day jig names. I remember one offering:
"The girl with the protruding panty lines"
But it still doesn't beat the world's best song title:
"Fanny Power".

[mvhplank]

I'm fond of the name "Moll in the Wad," which can be found in O'Neill's.

I'd love to know more about its origin and whether it connects with a short poem I found. It's in a book of nonsense verse collected and illustrated by Wallace Tripp called <i>A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me</i> (really!). It goes, as near as I can remember,

Moll in the Wad and I fell out,
And what do you think it was all about?
I gave her a shilling, she swore it was bad.
"It's an old soldier's button!" said Moll in the Wad.

The illustration clearly shows a couple of threads hanging from the "shilling."

M

[SteveK]

I'm more familiar with American tune names than Irish. A title that's very long is I Went to the Turkey Pen, Fell on My Knees, Laughed Fit to Kill Myself, Till I Hear'd the Turkey Sneeze. Some shorter unusual ones are The Pretty Little Girl Went to Texas and Fell in a Well and The Hog Went Through the Fence, Yoke and All.

Steve

[Bretton]

This isn't that odd of a tune name but I had been thinking of it in a slightly different way than was intended.

"The Pleasures of Hope" (Hornpipe)

I played this for a bunch of 1st and 2nd grade elementary students one day and then announced the title (which I had been thinking meant it felt good to be hopeful about things...). Later on someone (parent not a student) asked who Hope was and it finally clicked that maybe being hopeful wasn't what the title was referring to.



-Brett

[peeplj]

I've always been fond of "Fasten the Leg in Her."



--James
http://www.flutesite.com

[Cayden]

Padraig O Keeffe had a few interesting ones too, 'The Purring Girls of the Village' being one. Another Sliabh Luachra one is 'The Hair fell off my Coconut[and how do you like it baldy]'.

[Brian Lee]

My list so far:

The Drab Plateau
The Dreary Plains of Toil
The Low Hills of Mediocrity
Farewell to Your Dreams
The Inferior Rake
The Banks of Despair
The Unfortunate Hack
The Humours of Failure
The Road to Frustration
The Jolly Amateur
Tearing Out of Paddy's Hair
Toss the Fiddle/Toss the Fiddles
Ennui Before Breakfast
Betty Crocker's Fancy Scotch Measure
Duncan Hine's Strathspey
Lord Entamenn's
Pilsbury's
Nobody's Favorite
Haste to the Exit
Prozac in the Morning
Merrily Smoked the Crack Pipe
The Impossible Wall
Leave the Back Door Open
Use the Mute
Scale Practice
Last Minute Practice Of The Hard Parts
Misery Loves Accompaniment
Smash the Whistles
I Buried My Pipes and Danced on Their Grave
Pull the Knife Out of the Bodhran and Stick it Again
Planxty Maugham
Boil the Bagpipes Early
The Grizzly in the Dumpster
The Scraggy Hills of Brown
The Odour of Spring
Shovel the Walk
The Burning Hills of Gold
The Odor of Smoke
Wet Down the Roof
Rotate the Tires
Cold Pizza for Breakfast
O'Carolan's ATM PIN Number
Ignorance is Bliss
The Scotch Tape (Strathspey)
The Hag at the Firm
The Cash Jig
Aphids in the Smog
The Humours of Rush Hour
The Hostility Reel
The Odours of Kensington Market
Molloy's Mistake
Last Night's Disaster
The Galway Bumbler
Reading The Session At Work
The Sorting of the Mail
The Handsome Courier
The Mysterious Stain
The Small Talk Polka
The Purolator Jig
Give me a Coffee Dammit or I'll Scream
Why are You Bitching at Me? It's not My Problem
The Typist's Despair
The Humours of Inbox
Merrily Chat the Secretaries
Si Beags For More
Hurt the Old People
Smother the Piper
Spiders in the House
The Rakes of Loncleerin
The First Frost Polka
What's that Smell in the Freight Elevator?
Lenore's Coffee Break
The Gorgeous Man on the Tram
The Corrupted Files
The Humors of Microsoft
Bill Gates's Favorite
Merrily Click the Mouse
Control-Alt-Delete
Hewlett Packard's Favorite
The Jug of Coffee
Boil The Coffee Early
The Freudian Slip Jig
The Hormonal Hornpipe
The Fully-Fledged Clergyman
The Bladderesque Monstrosity
The Queer Look
Some Wind
Mickey Rooney's lament for his eleventh wife
I'm not doin'it
Margaret's Salts
Toothpick waltz
As so far as I can
Librarians lament
Eleanor-Dump it!
A hitman's special - Kill Cash
Dock This!
Brian Borrowed it in March
Spandex grill
In plain text Fanny
The Sock In The Hole
Hairy Chested frog
Onions and Bunions
Toss the Cookies
The Road To Recovery
The Foggy Mirror
The Dusty Window-Thingie
Trip to Pakistan
Joe's Tuxedo
The Toastie Jig
Waltz for Cu
The Bouncing Czech
The Camel's Hump
Does This Train Go To Bellshill??
Trip to the Bronx
The Keep Left Sign
Let There Be Drams
Shake A Leg
The Bishop's Son
For All The Cows
Floating Candles
The Cumbernauld Perenials
The Farting Badger
Screw the Pancakes
Planxty Jack Daniels
Bludgeon The Pipers
The Silly Gardens
The Sur-reel
The Mid-life Crisis
The Merry Male Hairdresser
The Five Points Of Calvinism
Left Cheek Asleep
Mountain Dew For Breakfast
Smash The Windows XP
Kill Me Quickly
Rocky Road To Divorce Court (aka The
Whistler's Lament)
The Laughing Creditor
Oh Please, Make It Stop!
Jazzercise Waltz (aka Fanny Power!)
Knickers In A Knot
Merrily Beat The Quaker (He Won't Return The Favor)
I'll Polka Your Eyes Out
Computer Over The Windowsill
There's Hair In My Corn
The Not So Redhaired Boy
Screeching Cats
Lost In A Fog
The Hashed Jig






And of course, we’ll need a book to put all these great tunes into…how about:

Mindnumbing Session of Tedium
O'Neills Tunes No One Can Dance To
C# Tunes for the D Whistle
O'Carolan's Obviously Unpublished Tunes
Alistair Crowley's Reels
Tunes Banished to the Recorder
Walton's Big Book of Copyright Infringements
Continous Strings of Unrelated Notes
Christmas Aires for Bodhran
Blow These out Your Whistle
Rowsome's Piping Tunes for the Deaf
Irish Songs for the Drunk and Unruly
Sh' Bheg Fer No Mor, Irish Love Tunes

[SteveK]

On 2002-12-20 09:18, peeplj wrote:
I've always been fond of "Fasten the Leg in Her."

Does that refer to Pegleg Peg, Pegleg Pete's wife? And if so, shouldn't it be Fasten the Leg on Her? That's what I've always thought.

Steve

[Bloomfield]

I often wonder how many tune names have (sexual) connotations that I miss. There are the obvious ones like Poll Ha'Penny or An Phis Fluich. But I wonder about "The Woman of The House on the Floor, Working" or "Rolling in the Ryegrass" or "[Kiss] The Maid Behind the Barrel" (what else is she doing behind that barrel?)

That reminds me: On a John Doherty Recording I am listening to a lot these days, there is a tune called "The Maid behind the Bier". My understanding is that "bier" is an old term for a stretcher, particularly to carry or place a corpse. All this is odd for a tune name and a bit somber. But I remember the liner notes saying that the tune and others in that set were wedding tunes, traditionally played in South-West Donegal... (And the tune is not the commonly known Maid Behind the Bar[rel]). This is what I love about ITM: I can't play, but I can learn tune names and tell you where the real Earl's Chair is, and I can die my eyebrows, if necessary.

_________________
/bloomfield

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2002-12-20 11:26 ]</font>

[jbarter]

Our local session for years played a tune for which we didn't know the name, so we called it Derek after the barmaid (long story). Eventually someone told us the real title but somehow Derek it remains.

[The Weekenders]

Just looking at Kiss the Maid Behind the Barrel while reviewing thread. Not only does the title sound like several reels mashed together, the tune itself (Breathnach version #74 Bk 1) is a four parter that sounds like several put together as well. The last part is sort of Sheehans/Geehans put together.

I always imagine a combination of strong drink, a famous player and someone with a good memory when I see these contraption tunes.

And Brian Lee, lay off the methamphetamines. SHEESH...Yah, I know, its a Natural High.....elevation, I reckon.

I like the laconic "I HAVE NO MONEY" especially since I just lost my job.

[SteveK]

I like the laconic "I HAVE NO MONEY" especially since I just lost my job.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope something comes along. There's also Boys, My Money's All Gone.

Steve

[Pat Cannady]

A few titles in search of tunes:

The Incontinent Piper
Bluto Blutarsky's
The Lecher in the Morning
The Circling Vulture
Secondhand Smoke
Mixed Grill & O.J. (the beverage, not The Juice)
Knots and Warts
The Jagged Hornpipe
The Taqueria Reel
Bloodshot and Baggy
The Screwdriver
The Shooting Board
Singapore Cane
Scalpels and Razors
Larry Buying Coffee (polka? maybe a slide?)
Sauza and Cointreau
Halfzware Shag
Jenny's Nightie

That's all I got for now.

[The Weekenders]

Course, after reading that McCourt book, it was like his Dad's anthem....