• Greg's Pipes
• The Parts
• Scordatura

Greg's Pipes

“Greg’s Pipes”, the tune based on these tunes, on the other hand, did gain a remarkable foothold in Ireland, undergoing much change and adaptation within the Irish tradition. The change is less evident where the scordatura survived, the two “Reel of Tulloch” parts being played on the top two strings of the fiddle and the “Donalbane” parts played on the bottom two strings, an arrangement that can be described as ABC,D,. The Gillespie MS of 1768 from Perth and the Longman, Lukey and Co. setting, published in 1772, have the tune in this format. The key signature used in these and all the early settings indicates A major. The Kerr setting, on the other hand, with only one sharp instead of three, suggests a modal scale, popularly known as A minor. This key signature is used in the settings to be found in The Gunn Book of Fermanagh, and those in the Reilly manuscripts of south Leitrim, the latter evidently copying the text of the tune, which is written in scordatura, directly from Kerr.

* The Gentleman’s Magazine, Volume 87, Part 2 (July-December), (London, 1817), p.636

Neil Stewart, A Collection of the Newest and Best Reels or Country Dances, (Edinburgh, 1761), 44

John Glen, The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music, (Edinburgh, 1891), xvi: here he merely quotes the page number from Neil Stewart, A Collection of the Newest and Best Reels or Country Dances, (Edinburgh, 1761), as page 44, but does not reprint the tune in the body of his collection.

audio without bass-line

audio with bass-line

Parts

ABC,D,

Scordatura

ae’a’c♯’’

Gillespie MS, 1768

Parts

ABC,D,

Scordatura

ae’a’e’’

Longman, Lukey & Co., Twenty Four Country Dances for the year 1772, (London, 1772), 56; Aloys Fleischmann, Sources of Irish Traditional Music, (New York and London, 1998), Volume 1, 350

Parts

ABC,D,

Scordatura

ae’a’e’’

Editor’s note in Longman, Lukey & Co. ibid: “Gregg’s Pipes are Scotch, therefore he advises those who play the tune to imitate him on ye Violin will tune the third and fourth string one note higher than the common pitch. It will also be easier for fingering.”