The connaughtman’s rambles, jig

A very popular tune in many parts of Ireland as evidenced by its inclusion in so many collections, this jig appeared as early as 1858 when R. M. Levey published it in his first collection of The Dance Music of Ireland. The tune was also included by Captain Francis O’Neill in his 1907 publication The Dance Music of Ireland 1001 Gems and by the Cork collector, Francis Roche, in his first collection in 1912.  While the jig is commonly played in the key of D, the version transcribed by Séamus Ennis from Hughie Bonar’s playing is in the key of C. As well as collecting from musicians and singers Séamus Ennis often joined in with them on a variety of instruments. There are several references in his diary to playing the fiddle in Donegal such as on the night in early March 1944 when Ennis recorded this tune from Hughie Bonar he mentions that ‘three or four young men gathered in and three of us spent the evening taking turns at Hughie’s fiddle’. Ennis wrote in Irish on the transcription for this particular tune that this was the last of the nine tunes he transcribed from the fiddle playing of Hughie Bonar.