Many of you will no doubt know this tune. Likewise, to many here, Planxty’s version on the album of the same name will be familiar. I came to track the ABC on the Session this evening, only to find out the tune is a jig. But listen to Planxty’s version, and unless I’m very much mistaken, they perform it as a reel, or some other common time rhythm.
Don’t let titles throw you. A tune and its title may be associated with a particular musician because they composed it, or they happened to play it, or someone happened to learn it from them and gave it the player’s name - because some name is better than Gan Ainm or “I dunno”.
The same title may be associated with many different tunes, and the same tune may have many different names.
In most cases, when you see a tune titled “So and So’s” or “So and So’s Favourite”, you can be pretty sure that it has several other names.
The jig that you cited also happens to be associated with Junior Crehan. On his album An Bhábóg sa Bhádóg, Junior’s grandson Kevin calls the tune The Luaithreadán’s Jig, and cites it as played by and learned from, but not composed by Junior. Kevin also plays it in G instead D.
I think Peter Horan’s story for how the reel called “Fred Finn’s” got that name went something like “It wasn’t his reel. We used to play that reel and we played it at Fred Finn’s one night.”
Junior’s grandson Kevin calls the tune The Luaithreadán’s Jig, and cites it as played by and learned from, but not composed by Junior. Kevin also plays it in G instead D.
The tune was composed by Junior. He had an elaborate story of how his cattle was doing badly and the milk went sour and all that. One night he stayed up with his son Pat as they suspected there was mischief around the house. During their watch a little man came down the chimney and Junior grabbed him by the throat. It was the Luthradán (a cousin of the Leprechaun, one has the two humps and the other just the one, I forget which). Anyhow, long story short, the little man wanted out and in exchange for the release a tune was given and it was named after him: The Luthradán.
There has been endless confusion about the name and all sorts of bastardisations can be found on the internet: the Lurga Don being one of many (and the only one I can remember at the minute). I originally learned the tune from Junior, Michael Downes and John Joe Tuttle nearly twenty years ago, in D (which suits the fiddle very well) but later took to playing it in G after hearing Junior and his daughter Ita play it in that key (Ita was playing the whistle at the time so obviously G was the more suitable key). Kitty Hayes and myself recorded the tune, in G, as ‘The Luthradán’ . Writing the sleeve notes I consulted Tom Munnelly about the correct spelling of the name. Tom said that was the way he knew it and he had ‘not been rapped on the knuckles for it yet’.
The book of Junior’s compositions has it as The Luachrachán’s jig.
Yes, I read that in your liner notes. It sounds like Junior was not averse to having a bit of fun with people, or hitting the poitín.
If I had ready access to the Aarne-Thompson folktale type index or the Thompson motif index, I could look up the relevant numbers for Junior’s “personal” tale …
As for the omission of credit on the album, I may see Kevin this weekend and can ask him. One theory is that his intent was to give proper credit for the tune to the Luaithreadán!
I can imagine that the spelling is all over the place, between regional variants, folk etymology, spelling reform, mis-spellings and mis-hearings, etc. As long as it’s not an ashtray, which is far less romantic.
