OK, so this is my first post to this forum, and I hope it’s the right spot for this. I’m working on a new reel (for me anyway) called The Scholar, and am wondering if anyone happens to know the history of the piece? Meaning, is it trad. or modern…any thoughts on the composer etc. I love the tune, and the B part jumps around a lot which I think really gives a nice tone on the whistle.
Anyway, thanks for any and all insight.
Bri~
It’s certainly not recent, and I think it’s quite a classic. As regards recordings, I’ll have to look up the old vinyl LPs, but I think it was recorded by Tommy Reck for the “Drones and the Chanters” Claddagh records compilation of uilleann pipers in the 1970s.
It’s in the big O’Neill’s (the one that includes all the O’Carolan tunes), but it’s in there as a hornpipe. I actually prefer it that way to the reel; not sure when it evolved into a reel or whether it was always played both ways.
Hi Brian, can’t help to much on the history of The Scholar reel. But JC’s tune finder has it as both reel and hornpipe.
I did a Google search for The Scholar Reel and got this link with a bit of info;
http://www.uilleann.nl/homepages/neillidhMulligan/albums/scd1037/09.html
MarkB
Thanks all.
I did look on JC’s and saved a couple of the versions there. Thanks again for all the info!
B~
On 2003-02-20 00:27, Brian Lee wrote:
I’m working on a new reel (for me anyway) called The Scholar, and am wondering if anyone happens to know the history of the piece?
I’ve found two excellent resources for histories of many tunes:
http://www.irishtune.info/finder.htm
the page at which for the Scholar is:
http://www.irishtune.info/tune/1729/
It’s specifically intended to help people find recordings of tunes, but it includes print information and sometimes historical notes. One particularly useful feature is its cross-referencing from tune names to track listings of many recordings, and if you’re curious to know what else a tune is called or the names of tunes in a track devoted to a set, this is a good site to check first.
This site:
http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc/
is particularly good for the history of tunes in the strict sense, as well as listing many recordings and dot sources.
HTH.
John
“The Scholar” was composed by a fiddler who moved down from Scotland to Gateshead in England when he was six years old. He named most of his tunes after racehorses or public houses. He also wrote “The Beeswing”, “The Locomotive”, “The Teetotaller”, “The Hawk”, “The High Level Hornpipe” and a lot more that I can’t remember off hand. He was James Hill, and he wasn’t Irish.
You’ll find some bits about James Hill here:-
http://farne.weblogger.com/stories/storyReader$310
Welcome, KeithC! That’s hittin’ the ground runnin’.
N, 
Keith…
WOW! That’s very cool indeed! Thanks for the info and the link!
Bri~
Kieth this is really interesting thanks for the link!
Dang! learn somethin’ everyday around here!
MarkB