Farewell to Whiskey Item Info
- Title:
- Farewell to Whiskey
- Sound Cloud:
- Description:
- Composed by the legendary Scottish fiddle player Niel Gow in 1799, this tune's title is apparently a reaction to the temporary prohibition of distillation in Scotland due to the failure of that year's barley crop. Played on this recording by master musician Monsignor Charles Coen, it first came to my attention when Ciarán Mac Mathúna, the well-known broadcaster on Radio Éireann, featured it on his Ceolta Tire programme. He had recorded it from Paddy Neil, a concertina player from near Newport, County Tipperary. Paddy's version, in particular the second part, is different from what is usually played. Thanks to Monsignor Coen for learning and recording it for me, and to Nicky McAuliffe from County Kerry for the tune information.
- Publisher:
- Séamus Connolly, Boston College Libraries
- Creator:
- Coen, Charles McElroy, Kevin Gow, Niel
- Type:
- Some transcriptions are based on historical source recordings. More info.
- Subjects:
- Folk dance music Folk music--Scotland Polkas Concertina music Mac Mathúna, Ciarán Neil, Paddy McAuliffe, Nicholas
- Playlist:
- Playlist 01
- Collection:
- Polkas
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- Coen, Charles ;McElroy, Kevin ;Gow, Niel, "Farewell to Whiskey", The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music, accessed July 10, 2025, https://library.bc.edu/ds/connolly/document/551.html.
- Reference Link:
- https://library.bc.edu/ds/connolly/document/551.html
Rights
- Rights:
- This website was created through a partnership with Séamus Connolly and the Boston College Libraries (2016). All materials on this site may be freely shared and adapted according to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.