Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 09/05/2025:  00:36:28

This week's TOTW is an Irish reel, The Fermoy Lasses. The tune is also known by other names, including "Fermoy Lassies", "The Connacht Rangers", "Off to Dublin" and "The Humours of Mackin".



It's a tune where the A part is in E min, and the B part is very definitely in G major. Same notes, (one sharp) but a different order and emphasis gives a totally different feel to the two parts.



The earliest known mention of the tune is found in the mid 1800s collection of James Goodman, a Canon from County Cork.

These manuscripts are held by the Irish Traditional Music Archive. The tune is listed, but not available online.



The first known recording of The Fermoy Lasses was made by the renowned Irish-American piper Patsy Touhey in 1919, though I cannot find an online version to link to here.



The earliest recording I can find online was released in 1924 by McConnell's Four Leaf Shamrock Orchestra, where the tune is titled "Off to Dublin". It's the second tune of the set. archive.org/details/McConnells...ysofLough



The tune gained further popularity through various recordings by folk and traditional Irish bands. The Dubliners recorded it as part of a medley with "Sporting Paddy" on an early album, and then adopted this pair of tunes as a common start to their live shows.



It is part of the Cape Breton tradition as well, and this is where the five string banjo comes in. A tab is included in Ken Perlman's excellent book of tunes from the Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island traditions. @kenneth_perlman

I can't find a recorded version of Ken playing this available on line, but it is on the album "Island Boy" which you can buy a CD or Cassette from Ken's Website. 

kenperlman.com/island-boy/

I have Ken's excellent book of Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island tunes, but I always have to find my own way through each tune and I always have to listen to lots of different versions of the tunes to make them work. Ken's tabs are very precisely annotated which can be both incredibly helpful and incredibly difficult!



Then there is the excellent video tutorial from Dan Walsh on YouTube here youtu.be/1UjBsXaPEeQ?si=6uVtWEwqkTo6mBJ9

Dan talks about how to tackle things like triplets, and includes some really useful advice. If Dan reads this - please chip in, your insights will help I'm sure.



My version sticks more closely to the Dubliners' version than Dan does - I worked it out on my tenor banjo first (tab and video below).

Then I picked it with a plectrum on my 5 string to learn the left hand, then I worked out how to clawhammer it based partly on Dan Walsh's teaching, and partly the Dubliners'.....

Then I practised a lot!



I found I needed a strap on my banjo and some resilience to keep working it out.



My version and clawhammer tab is below. Note that in practising this I found other fingering for the left hand, so I don't even follow my own tab exactly.



I'd love to hear your versions - please have a go and share! And if Ken Perlman is reading this, I'd love to hear your version please!

Edited by - Andyrhydycreuau on 09/05/2025 07:46:45

Fermoy Lasses Tenor Banjo

Fermoy Lasses Clawhammer

VIDEO: Fermoy Lasses. Tenor banjo. GDAE
(click to view)

VIDEO: Fermoy Lasses - Clawhammer Banjo Standard G tuning.
(click to view)

JanetB - Posted - 09/06/2025:  11:21:30

Excellent presentation, Andy!  A tough challenge, too.  Here's what I came up with based on notation from Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903) and by listening to Ken Perlman.  For fun I also looked up Fermoy, which is in County Cork, where fine musicians have come from, as well as immigrants who moved to California during the Gold Rush.  Those Fermoy lasses sound formidable in the A part and jolly in the B part.

The Fermoy Lasses (TOTW)

The Fermoy Lasses (CH) tab