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Cuckoo's Nest, The
Traditional Old-Time, Bluegrass; Hornpipe, Reel, Breakdown- The British Isles; US.
ARTIST: printed in Buchan and Hall, The Scottish Folksinger recorded by Jean Redpath.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: 1700’s
RECORDING INFO: Folkways FS 3809, Dan White and John Summers- "Fine Times at Our House." Fretless 103, "Clem Myers: Northeast Regional Old Time Fiddle Champion 1967 & 1970." Fretless 201, Jerry Robichaud- "Maritime Dance Party" (1978). Front Hall 017, Michael and McCreesh- "Dance, Like a Wave of the Sea" (1978. Learned from the playing of Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick). Kicking Mule 204, Pat Dunford- "The Old-Time Banjo In America." Rounder 0046, Mark O'Conner- "National Junior Fiddle Champion." Rounder 0060, Brother Oswald and Charlie Collins- "Oz and Charlie." Sonet SNTF 764, Dave Swarbrick and Friends- "The Ceilidh Album." Tara Records 1009, Seamus Ennis - "The Fox Chase" (1977). Cuckoo's Nest- Nickel Creek; Blake, Norman. Old and New, Flying Fish FF-010, LP (1975), cut# 6; Burke, Joe;, Andy McGann & Felix Dolan. Funny Reel, Shanachie 29012, LP (1979), cut#B.06b; Cedar Point String Band. Cedar Point String Band, Roane, Cas (1993), cut# 12; De Dannan. Star Spangled Molly, Shanachie 79018, LP (1981), cut# 7; Deseret String Band. Utah Trail, Okehdokee --, LP (197?), cut# 10; Dunford, Pat. Old Time Banjo in America, Kicking Mule KM 204, LP (1978), cut# 3; Gardner, Worley. Mountain Melodies. Tunes of the Appalachians, Oak Leaf OL 3-7-2, LP (197?), cut# 5; Haley, Ed. Parksburg Landing, Rounder 1010, LP (1976), cut# 5; Haley, Ed. Grey Eagle (Vol. 2), Rounder 1133/1134, CD (1997), 2.05; Haley, Ed. Grey Eagle (Vol. 2), Rounder 1133/1134, CD (1997), 2.06; Hutchinson Brothers. Hutchison Brothers, Vetco LP 505, LP (1975), cut# 4; Maguire, John. Folk Songs of Britain. Vol 2. Songs of Seduction, Caedmon TC 1143, LP (1961), cut#B.04b; Martin, Emery. Hill Country Tunes: Instrumental Folk Music of Southwestern Penn, Amer. Folklore Society, fol (1944), 8a; Michael, Walt; & McCreesh, Tom. Dance Like a Wave on the Sea, Front Hall FHR-017, LP (1978), cut# 15; Northcutt, Bill. Old Time Hoedown, Stoneway STY 103, LP (196?), cut# 2; O'Connor, Mark. National Junior Fiddle Champion, Rounder 0046, LP (1975), cut# 3; O'Dell, David. Banjo Legacy, Augusta Heritage AHR 006, LP (1989), cut#A.05; Old Scratch Band. Old Scratch Band, California Condor CCLP-2, LP (197?), cut# 10 (Little Red-Haired Boy); Parish, Roscoe. Old Time Way, Heritage (Galax) 070, LP (1986), cut# 27; Phipps, Bonnie. Autoharpin', Kicking Mule KM 228, LP (1982), cut# 12a; Rizzetta, Sam. Bucks and Does, Flying Cloud FCM-3, LP (1982), cut#B.01; Robb, Ian. Rose and Crown, Folk Legacy FSI 106, LP (1985), cut#A.02c; Robichaud, Gerry. Maritime Dance Party, Fretless FR 201, LP (1978), cut#B.02c; St. Pierre, Simon. Joys of Quebec, Revonah 915, LP (1974), cut#B.03; Tucker, Stephen B.. Great Big Yam Potatoes. Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Missi., Southern Culture AH002, LP (1985), cut# 35 (Christmas Time in the Morning); Williams, Vivian; and Barbara Lamb. Twin Sisters, Voyager VRLP 316-S, LP (1975), cut#B.02; Yaugher, Irvin; Jr.. Hill Country Tunes: Instrumental Folk Music of Southwestern Penn, Amer. Folklore Society, fol (1944), 8b
CUCKOO’S NEST SONG: Ford, Brownie. Stories from Mountains, Swamps & Honky-Tonks, Flying Fish FF 90559, Cas (1990), cut#B.03b; MacColl, Ewan. Scotch (Scots) Drinking Songs, Offbeat OLP 4023, LP (196?), cut# 10a; McMorland, Alison. Belt wi' Colours Three. Scots Songs and Ballads, Tangent TGS 125, LP (1977), cut#B.05; Morris On. Morris On, Carthage CGLP 4406, LP (1982), cut# 11; Robertson, Jeannie. Folk Songs of Britain. Vol 2. Songs of Seduction, Caedmon TC 1143, LP (1961), cut#B.04a; Strachan, John. Folk Songs of Britain. Vol 2. Songs of Seduction, Caedmon TC 1143, LP (1961), cut#B.04c;
OTHER NAMES: "Cuckoo Hornpipe" "All Around," "Captain Moss's," "Come Ashore," "Come Ashore, Jolly Tar, With Your Trousers On," "Coo Coo's Nest," "I do confess thou art sae fair," "Jacky Tar" (Hornpipe), "The Mower," "The Mountain Top," "An Spealadoir" (The Mower), "The Trowsers On," "The Yellow Heifer." Bedmaking ; Untitled (Delbert Hughes tune); Cuckoo (Hornpipe); Magpie's Nest; Good Ax Elve; Mower; All Aboard
SOURCES: "Loosely based on the playing of Dave Swarbrick" (England) [Phillips/1989]; piper Seamus Ennis (Ireland) [Breathnach]; from "an old music book of 1723" [Bunting]; from a MS collection by fiddler Lawrence Leadley, 1827-1897 (Helperby, Yorkshire) [Merryweather & Seattle]; Ruthie Dornfeld and James Chancellor [Phillips/1995]; accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border), recorded at a recital at Na Píobairí Uilleann, February, 1981 [Moylan]; fiddler Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ottawa Valley, Ontario) [Begin]. Aird (Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs), volume I, No. 190 (appears as "Come ashore Jolly Tar"). Begin (Fiddle Music in the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 22, pg. 37. Breathnach (CRE III), 1985; No. 221, pg. 101. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 81. Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; pgs. 163-164, No.'s 291-292 (arrangements by John Kimmel). Harding's All Round Collection, 1905; No. 52, pg. 16. Jarman, Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes; No. or pg. 23. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 27, pg. 14 [note for note the same as Raven's version]. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 4; No. 282, pg. 30. Merryweather & Seattle (The Fiddler of Helperby), 1994; No. 28, pg. 35. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 26, pg. 96 (appears as "Cuckoo's Nest No. 1," identical to O'Neill's 1850 2nd setting). O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 321, pg. 158. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 205 (two settings). O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; Nos. 1733 & 1734, pg. 322. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 913, pg. 156. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 110, pgs. 157-158. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 14. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 188. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 177 (appears as "The Cuckoo's Nest {New}" and is the same version as O'Neill's second setting). Roche Collection, 1982; Vol. II, pg. 19 and Vol. 3, pg. 60, No. 170. Russell (The Piper's Chair), 1989; pg. 26 (appears as "The Man that cuts the Hay with the Scythe"). Sannella, Balance and Swing (CDSS). Stanford-Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 1206. Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 289. Gardner, Worley. Dulcimer Player News, Dulcimer Player News DPN, Ser (1973-), 24/4, p21; Looman, Patty. Dulcimer Player News, Dulcimer Player News DPN, Ser (1973-), 24/4, p21a; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;
FORM: "D Major (Brody, Carlin {setting #1), Kerr, Moylan, Phillips/1995 {setting #1}: D Dorian (Roche, 1st setting): G Major (Harding, Merryweather & Seattle, Mulvihill, O'Neill/Krassen & 1001, Phillips/1995 {setting #2}, Roche {setting 2}: E Aeolian (O'Neill/Krassen -1st setting): A Dorian (Phillips): A Major (Carlin, setting #2). Standard. AB (Begin): AABB (Brody, Harding, Kerr, Moylan, Phillips, Roche, O'Neill, Phillips and Carlin {1st settings}): AABC (Mulvihill): AABBCC (Kennedy, Merryweather & Seattle, O'Neill/Krassen, 1001 & 1915, Roche, and Carlin {2nd settings})." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
NOTES: An extremely popular English melody known throughout the British Isles and British North America whose title, the 'cuckoo's nest,' commonly referred to female pubic hair and accompanying anatomy. It dates to at least the early 18th century. James Aird's printing in his Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, Vol. 1 (1782, pg. 66) includes an interesting fourth strain, not found in other sources. Matt Seattle (1987, 1994) believes the tune to originally have been a Scots Measure in D Minor with the title "Come Ashore Jolly Tar (with) Your Trousers On," but notes that many versions of this tune exist, with quite substantial variation between them, in major and minor keys (he remarks that the Northumbrian William Vicker's late 18th century setting is evidently minor, despite the key signature). The title appears in numerous 18th and 19th century dance collections, and made Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes, which he published c. 1800. In Jacobite Relics (1819) James Hogg prints a song to the melody, commenting: "It must have been a great favourite in the last age, for about the time when I first began to know one tune from another, all the old people that could sing at all, could sing "The cuckoo is a bonny bird (See: Cuckoo- Version 6)." The Cuckoo's Nest is also the name of a Scottish country dance, which, though increasingly rare, was danced in parts of the country (e.g. West Berwickshire) through the 19th century.(Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
In America, the melody was included in New Windsor, Connecticut, musician Giles Gibbs' MS collection of 1777, Henry Beck's flute manuscript of 1785 (pg. 56), and Clement Weeks' collection of dances made in 1783. It was even preserved in a chime clock of the period manufactured by New Windsor, Connecticut, clockmaker Daniel Burnap. The tune remains a popular staple at New England contra dances to this day. In other American traditions, the title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Similarly, in modern times in the United States the tune has been assumed into Texas fiddling tradition, probably derived from Canadian or Midwestern sources (Guthrie Meade & Mark Wilson).(Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
PENNSYLVANIA VERSIONS: Found in southwestern Pa., West Virginia, northeastern Kentucky the “Cuckoo’s Nest” is named "Good Axe Elve," "All Aboard," or "Forty Pounds of Feathers in a Hornet's Nest" and played as a reel in a minor key. Bayard (1944) identifies these Pennsylvania collected versions as derived from the Irish original, some more true to the original than others, and notes that it enjoyed great popularity in southwestern Pa. His version from Emery Martin represented the prevailing one in that region and he found published sets which indicated that this version was also known elsewhere. He gave a children's game rhyme collected in western Pennsylvania that ran: Wire, briar, limberlock/Three geese in a flock/One flew east, and one flew west/And one flew over the cuckoo's nest. For more detailed info on the web, see: Ceolas, A Fiddler’s Companion.
LYRICS:
There is a thornbush in oor kailyard
There is a thornbush in oor kailyard
At the back o' thon bush there stands a lad and lass
And they're busy, busy herrying at the cuckoo's nest.
And its hey the cuck and ho the cuck
And hey the cuckoo's nest
And its hey the cuck and hoo the cuck
And hey the cuckoo's nest
I'll gie onybody a shillin' and a bottle of the best
If they'll rumble up the feathers of the cuckoo's nest.
It is thorned, it is sprinkled, it is compassed all around
It is thorned, it is sprinkled, and it isn't easy found
She said, "Young man, you're blundering!" I said it wasnae true
But I left her wi' the makings of a young cuckoo.
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