Can anybody give a definition of the phrase “pure drop” and/or the origin of the phrase? I figure, from context, that it means something like…“pure” but what does the “drop” mean?
Mike (another one)
It’s the name of an LP by Séamus Ennis - in fact recorded when he was no longer at his best.
Don’t know if the phrase has any specific prior history. Taken to mean traditional music unadulterated by modern accompaniment or stylistic influence.
I’ve always considered the term to be a musical equivalent to a good single malt whisk(e)y-and there are some IRISH single malts/single grains available 
)-UNADULTERATED by any lesser brew.Roger,to me,you hit the nail on the head with that single word.
I have the Ennis album-it’s paired with ‘The Fox chase’ as the double c.d. album ‘The Best of Irish Piping’.In fact,this was the first piping album that I bought.I can’t say that I was overwhelmed by the album when I first heard it-but then I was new to traditional U. piping.Listening to other,older recordings have enable me to better appreciate Ennis’s majestic playing,and contribution to ‘pure drop’ Irish trad. music.
In terms of performance, it appears that the general consensus is that the only unarguably “pure drop” settings are solo. There’s a start. When it comes to arrangement, backup, etc., I take the ball and run with it from there.
In the current issue of Smithsonian magazine, there’s an article on Richard Waterman, who worked with and photographed many of the great blues musicians. He made a statement in that article about Son House that made me think instantly of the “pure drop” phrase we use when referring to ITM.
“If the blues were an ocean distilled…into a pond…and, ultimately, into a drop…this drop on the end of your finger is Son House. It’s the essence, the concentrated elixir.”
Susan
Pure drop: see:
pocheen
itsself
crayther
non-taxed
I have that song on an old vinyl. Can’t remember who sang it. Couldn’t understand all of the words (I think you’ll understand.)
In another song, I think by the Dubliners, there is mention of “drop of the pure” in reference to whiskey (uisge, pronounced wishgee, meaning water of life).
So, ‘pure drop’ might elicit the comment, “Ah, that’s the stuff.”
Tony
If I were in a good mood, I’d probably say it means traditional, apart from outside or commercial influences, inasfar as that is possible. Really, it would be purely in a regional Irish folk idiom, I think.
Walden pointed out what I omitted in my usual parochially myopic habit. I’ve only known the term to be applied in the context of ITM.
It would have to translate to “the good music” then, as I think it refers to the “pure drop” coming out of an illegal distillery.
Sort of like the quote (Duke Ellington?) “if it sound good, it is good” as applied to Irish trad music.
Or, as a supreme court judge stated, “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it”.
Is it in the ear of the hearer? I know it when I hear it. 
Good, yes, but not necessarily “pure drop” as I understand it. Take the band Danú, for instance. Vibrant, excellent, a very traditionally oriented sound, but also very arranged -and well done- for texture and audience interest. This is for a broader appeal, and they do a good job of it. Whether the ancients had this in mind for the outcome of trad is up for debate; all I know is that solo playing (without Classical or other flavoring) has been referred to as the essence of “the pure drop” many times. It’s more a matter of the performance setting being at its most pared down, and of the music itself (whether ornate or simple) as being unmistakeably of the trad idiom.
It is hard to pin down; it’s one of those things that may well change with time as happens in living traditions; myself, I don’t see solo performance as an unbending requirement for this, but it’s a measuring stick for me. I think the elegance of simplicity is the esthetic at work here: austere pairings (instrument/bodhrán, pipes/flute, fiddle/flute, whistle/flute, flute/flute, etc…did I mention flute? 
) can fall within the scope of pure drop as well.
Googlism for: pure drop
pure drop is a “celtic rock” band based in the musically
pure drop is always the real thing" china may be china
pure drop is a celtic rock band playing an upbeat fusion of traditional irish music
pure drop is appreciated
pure drop is running
pure drop is an interactive documentary that explores the world of traditional folk music
pure drop is a celtic/irish band based in the north of england
pure drop is
pure drop is much more satisfying than listening to the mangling >of tunes and songs from england
pure drop is up north? this is it
pure drop is momentarily present
pure drop is perpetuated
…or a pure drop might be when the rcrd*r doesn’t hit the sides of the trash can. 
ROFL Nanohedron!
There’s also reference to “drop of the pure” in Rocky Road To Dublin. I wonder if “drop” refers to the way the “pure” uisce beatha comes out of the still? An té nach leigheasann im nó uisce beatha, níl aon leigheas air.
What whiskey cannot cure cannot be cured.
‘For malt does more than Milton can,
To justify God’s ways to man…’
A. E. Houseman
Thanks for the enlightenment, everybody. I never would have thought of the whisky angle on the expression “pure drop” but that does ring true.
Mike
The alcoholic reference is so self-evident that it didn’t even occur to me to mention it explicitly.
Given the health-and-life-threatening qualities of badly-distilled poitín, I think that in its primary context the phrase refers to anything that won’t have you ending up in the casualty department or morgue of your local hospital, rather than anything as grandiose as a single malt…