Would anyone (especially MTGURU) be able to give me the dots for “The Old Man Rocking the Cradle”? I am referring to the Leo Rowsome version on The King of the Pipers CD, Track3.
As always, I would be most appreciative.
BTW…I have learned Doinna, thanks to dots from MTGURU, and it has become an audience favourite.
Any one know the history or meaning of Doinna?
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Cheers! Richard
Looks like some of the people over on The Session website think it’s a Breton tune…
Here is a link for a guy named John McSherry playing it live on a YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0KQTv8qvkE
Cheers!
Matt
It was also used for the melody of Git Along Little Dogies, collected by Alan Lomax’s father John from a gypsy woman in Texas about a hundred years back. The dots are in Lomax’s book Folk Songs of North America, with a comparison to Seamus Ennis’s version. A transcript of Lomax giving a lecture on the tune is at here (PDF file).
Sounded to me like one of those variants that keep cropping up.
You rang? 
I assume you’re looking for the slow air, not the jig setting. As with all airs, this transcription is very rough, but maybe serviceable. In free meter, no time signature.
An interesting connection!
X:1
T:Old Man Rocking the Cradle
T:Slow Air
C:Trad, Leo Rowsome
R:Slow air
S:Leo Rowsome - King of the Pipers
N:Played on C set
Z:MTGuru for Chiff & Fipple, 2008-04-01
K:DMix
M:none
“Very freely”
((A4 {B}AG E2) JF2-{A}HF6|(A4 {B}A F3) JG2-{A}HG6)|(A4 {B}(AG E2) JF2-{A}HF6|A2{B}A2 F4 E6) {A}(D4 {A}HD8)|
((A4 {B}AG E2) JF2-{A}HF6 |(A4 {B}A F3) {Gc}G2-{c}HG6)|(A4 F4 E6) {A}D2 z2 {A}HD8|
{d}(A4 B2 c4- {d}c6|(B4 {d}BA3) B4 {c}A2- {B}A2 JF6 A2|d8 ) (AF-F6 E4 {A}D2- HD8)|
{d}(A4 B2 c4- {d}c6- {d}c2|(B4 {c}BA3) B4 {c}A4- {B}A4 JF6 A4|JB4 Hd8)|
{d}(A4 B2 c4- {d}c8|(B4 {d}BA3) B4 {c}A4 JF6 A4|d8 ) (A F2-{A}F2 E6) {A}HD8|
((A4 {B}AG E2) JF2-{A}HF6|(A4 {B}A F3) JG2-{A}HG6|A2{B}A2 F4 E6) {A}(D4 {dA}HD8)|
LOL
Yes, he is the source of my transcription of Doinna. And very well-known …
Again…many thanks to MTGURU! Exactly what I was looking for.
There are many variants of this tune, but it is the Leo Rowsome arrangement that I am particularly fond of.
I will give this a try and let you know how it goes.
Doinna is coming right along and I am really enjoying playing it. I really love tunes that have a bit of discordance to them.
Cheers! Richard
Don’t know about this particular tune, but the genre seems to be Romanian.
I agree, Richard, that is a good one. Have you heard Brian Mac Aodha’s version (called “The Banshee” on his album “Throw Away the Keys”)? That’s my favorite version.
Which leads to my question: what is the story or allegory behind this air?
Thanks!
If you’re referring to Old Man Rocking the Cradle, the way I heard the story is that, in previous generations in Irish rural areas, it was quite common for marriages to be arranged, and it was not uncommon for a young girl to be “sold” off to an older man if the family thought it could gain from the relationship to a more prosperous family. So she’s been wedded, bedded, and produced the heir, but she hasn’t got the love of dancing and music and sport out of her system yet, and the old man isn’t much good at keeping her satisfied, so she’s off to party, while the old man is left to take care of the child, whose parentage is suspect.
Another good played version to listen to is by the fiddler, John Doherty. A sung version is available by Joe Heaney.
The Old Man Rocking the Cradle
I am a young man, I’m rocking the cradel.,
Rocking the baby that nobody owns.
I am an old man, I’m alone at the table,
Watching the baby that nobody owns.
Chorus:
O ro o ro, ro my baby.
Perhaps your own daddy you never will know.
I’m here all alone, I’m rocking the cradle,
Rocking the baby that’s never my own.
My wife is a firt who married for money.
She stays out all night until the cock crows.
Take warning, dear Harry, if you ever marry,
Be sure that the baby you rock is your own.
Chorus:
Hushaby lu, hushaby baby.
Perhaps your own daddy you never will know.
I’m here all alone, I’m rocking the cradle,
Rocking the baby that nobody owns.
Halloo hallo, o ro my baby
Hushabye baby and hushabye o
Hu ro hu ro oho my baby
Perhaps your own daddy you never will know.
djm
Joe Heaney and Paddy Tunney both sing it. Just look up “Old Man Rocking the Cradle” in iTunes and you can listen to samples of each.
Pat.
Hey DJM and Pat, thanks a bunch! That’s really helpful information.
Am I perhaps mistaken (no surprise here) about Brian Mac Aodha’s “The Banshee” being the same as “The Old Man Rocking the Cradle”? I brought this up at the SE tionol and Tommy Martin said that it was the same (giving great stories as a bonus feature!).
NPU just gave a well-deserved good review of “Throw Away the Keys” by Brian Mac Aodha. Apparently it’s being re-released. I bought my copy for about $5 and it was the best $5 I’ve ever spend in my life. I really enjoy it, and “The Banshee” in particular.