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Come Over the Mountain Road
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The Early Music Masters of South Sligo
Before we continue with Jamesie Gannon, I want to share a few further details on his teacher, Thomas Dall Healy. The Dúchas schools project of 1937-39, in which the Irish Folk Lore Dept. supervised the collection of local history and oral tradition from Primary School children across the 26 counties of the Irish Free State, contains an entry entitled A Tale of a Rat Charmer. This story describes a fiddle player named Tom Healy who travelled from house to house playing for dances in Co. Sligo, “he lived about 70 years ago”. The story fits well with the fiddle player we have identified as Thomas “Dall” Healy, who died in the Sligo Workhouse on Sept. 22nd, 1878 Jamesie Gannon (cont.) We ended Part 1 of Come Over the Mountain Road with two examples of Jamesie Gannon’s handwritten notes. To build a picture of what he was like as a man and musician, the following are extracts of notes taken down by James Murray as a young man, from discussions he had with musicians who personally knew Gannon. |
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Painting of Jamesie Gannon by James Murray from an old photo
Notes taken from discussions with Johnny Feely
Jamesie Gannon was a genius because as well as being a great fiddle player he was also a master craftsman who, along with his brother Thomas, made beautiful furniture and small traditional Irish harps and fiddles. Whenever you called to their house Jamesie was always dressed in, as Johnny said, ‘his Sunday best’. Always a white shirt and ‘butterfly collar’ and a thin tie, he also at times wore a white shirt with a detached collar whose ends or points were rounded, also a black waistcoat and he always wore a pocket watch and gold chain.
Johnny also has told me that when he (Jamesie) was playing the fiddle he always had two gold armbands which he wore just above his elbows and that he played standing. He also dressed in black. When Johnny first met him, he said that he thought he was in his seventies and that at that time he was white-haired with a full ‘Edward VIIth’ beard. Thomas Gilmartin said that in his youth Gannon was sandy-haired.
According to Johnny, Jamesie Gannon played a jet-black fiddle and said that it wasn’t black from smoke but that the timber itself was very dark. He said that the fiddle was very widely stringed; in fact, all the players from around here – John and Jimmy-Joe Burke (taught by Gannon), Johnny Feely (taught by Thomas Gilmartin), Martin McDonagh (taught by Paddy Sweeney), Lanigan Maye and the Flynns from Choill – all have the strings stretched like that. This was also how Michael Coleman and Michael Gorman set up their fiddles.
Johnny also has told me that Gannon’s use of the bow was different to his teacher’s, Thomas Gilmartin. Gilmartin played a lot with the centre of the bow while Jamesie Gannon used the whole length, not that he constantly used the whole length. When playing on the G and D strings he used almost the bottom nearly to the frog, while when playing on the A and E strings he used about five inches of the top and when reaching the high D only about top three inches. (more on local fiddle set-up and bowing later - RP).
Jamesie Gannon said that Coleman was a very gifted person and, in his opinion, a genius as well as being gifted as a fiddle player. He had, as Gannon said, a very astute brain and was ‘great at sums’ even though he hadn’t spent much time at school. He also said that he had a great love of nature and would spend long periods of time listening to the birds and that he was fascinated with, above all things, crows and how they communicated with each other; also, that he was a poet and a great reciter of poetry. He also said that when Michael Coleman first came to him, he arrived with Phil O’Beirne, who was a very good friend. Jamesie and Thomas Gilmartin used to travel by sidecar to Buninadden where they would meet Phil, so they were old friends (also Peter James McDermott). What Coleman learned from Jamesie Gannon was what Johnny called ‘back trebling’ John said that no other fiddle player he ever heard, even Thomas Gilmartin, could do this. Gannon had learned this from a fiddle player from Chaffpool called Robert Powell. I think he was related to the Powells of Powellsborough. ‘Back trebling’ was done when drawing back the bow and was, as Johnny said, ‘all to do with the wrist’.
I asked Johnny what he thought about Jamesie Gannon’s music, and he said that, no more than Coleman, he was also a genius and that he could really make the fiddle ‘sing’; that even when you were beside him the music was ‘away from the fiddle’. It was, as he said, ‘projected’ away from the fiddle. He said that the difference between Thomas Gilmartin and Gannon was that Gilmartin was a very strong player but that whatever Jamesie had he could be heard over Gilmartin and Johnny said that was what Jamesie meant by the fiddle ‘singing’. He compared them to McCormack and Caruso, even though Caruso was a far stronger singer than McCormack, yet when singing in the Metropolitan Opera House McCormack could be heard at the very back of the House while Caruso could only be heard clearly half-way down the auditorium.
Note taken from discussion with Jimmy Burke
He (Gannon) had very long fingernails and very hard skin on his fingers. This was caused by his use of a large timber lapping plane which he was constantly using when making furniture. How he got such a beautiful tone was a great mystery to a lot of players, although he himself said that this was why he could project the music, that it was all coming from his heart and not his fingers.
Notes taken from discussions with Joe Frizzell
Joe spoke a lot about Gannon’s method of teaching. He said that he could read music and he transcribed the music onto a slate for his pupils as well as teaching them by ear. Sometimes he had a very sharp side to him and would use as old unwebbed bow which he always carried when teaching and if you weren’t doing what he had told you, you could get a sharp crack of the old bow.
Jamesie Gannon was always smartly dressed, nearly always in black, wearing a frock coat, but on a Sunday a ‘swallow tail’. Joe told me that Jamesie used to say that the correct name of the tune The Swallow’s Tail was The Swallow Tail; also, the tune Phil Beirne’s Delight was The Small House with the Big Chimney. He loved to play outside in the evening and always on his own. He was inspired by nature and the sound of the wind in the trees.
Joe Frizzell also mentioned about his use of resin. He said that he used very little and that also he drew the resin from some type of tree that grew locally. He maintained that too much resin caused a rough tone from the fiddle. He also webbed his own bows, as in fact did Charlie Flynn and the Burke brothers.
According to Joe Frizzell, Jamesie wrote the reel The Achonry Lassies and a lot more tunes as well, including some beautiful […] polkas and waltzes. His favourite reel was Rakish Paddy, just the two parts. He hated the extra parts; also, The Woman of the House with the little changed notes at the end of the first part which was how Tom Healy played it, and his favourite jig was Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part.
Note taken from Johnny Feely’s interview with Frank Walsh
Frank: The most important fiddle player around here was Jamesie Gannon of Crimlin. He was taught by an old blind fiddle player called Thomas Healy. Gannon was the daddy of them all. He had a beautiful tone, soft and sweet but powerful, it’s hard to explain, he could project the music out from the fiddle and there was a sort of an echo to it. You see Johnny, himself and Thomas Gilmartin used to play with the Good People, the people from the other world. If you mention this now, you’d be laughed at, but I know it’s true because I was there myself twice with Jamesie Gannon and when you played with them the music was never the same again. (I will share Johnny Feely’s full interview with Frank Walsh at a later date – RP).
Further Notes handwritten by Jamesie Gannon
In this handwritten note, Jamesie Gannon describes the string set-up on the fiddle as taught to him by Blind Fiddler Healy:
Jamesie Gannon was a genius because as well as being a great fiddle player he was also a master craftsman who, along with his brother Thomas, made beautiful furniture and small traditional Irish harps and fiddles. Whenever you called to their house Jamesie was always dressed in, as Johnny said, ‘his Sunday best’. Always a white shirt and ‘butterfly collar’ and a thin tie, he also at times wore a white shirt with a detached collar whose ends or points were rounded, also a black waistcoat and he always wore a pocket watch and gold chain.
Johnny also has told me that when he (Jamesie) was playing the fiddle he always had two gold armbands which he wore just above his elbows and that he played standing. He also dressed in black. When Johnny first met him, he said that he thought he was in his seventies and that at that time he was white-haired with a full ‘Edward VIIth’ beard. Thomas Gilmartin said that in his youth Gannon was sandy-haired.
According to Johnny, Jamesie Gannon played a jet-black fiddle and said that it wasn’t black from smoke but that the timber itself was very dark. He said that the fiddle was very widely stringed; in fact, all the players from around here – John and Jimmy-Joe Burke (taught by Gannon), Johnny Feely (taught by Thomas Gilmartin), Martin McDonagh (taught by Paddy Sweeney), Lanigan Maye and the Flynns from Choill – all have the strings stretched like that. This was also how Michael Coleman and Michael Gorman set up their fiddles.
Johnny also has told me that Gannon’s use of the bow was different to his teacher’s, Thomas Gilmartin. Gilmartin played a lot with the centre of the bow while Jamesie Gannon used the whole length, not that he constantly used the whole length. When playing on the G and D strings he used almost the bottom nearly to the frog, while when playing on the A and E strings he used about five inches of the top and when reaching the high D only about top three inches. (more on local fiddle set-up and bowing later - RP).
Jamesie Gannon said that Coleman was a very gifted person and, in his opinion, a genius as well as being gifted as a fiddle player. He had, as Gannon said, a very astute brain and was ‘great at sums’ even though he hadn’t spent much time at school. He also said that he had a great love of nature and would spend long periods of time listening to the birds and that he was fascinated with, above all things, crows and how they communicated with each other; also, that he was a poet and a great reciter of poetry. He also said that when Michael Coleman first came to him, he arrived with Phil O’Beirne, who was a very good friend. Jamesie and Thomas Gilmartin used to travel by sidecar to Buninadden where they would meet Phil, so they were old friends (also Peter James McDermott). What Coleman learned from Jamesie Gannon was what Johnny called ‘back trebling’ John said that no other fiddle player he ever heard, even Thomas Gilmartin, could do this. Gannon had learned this from a fiddle player from Chaffpool called Robert Powell. I think he was related to the Powells of Powellsborough. ‘Back trebling’ was done when drawing back the bow and was, as Johnny said, ‘all to do with the wrist’.
I asked Johnny what he thought about Jamesie Gannon’s music, and he said that, no more than Coleman, he was also a genius and that he could really make the fiddle ‘sing’; that even when you were beside him the music was ‘away from the fiddle’. It was, as he said, ‘projected’ away from the fiddle. He said that the difference between Thomas Gilmartin and Gannon was that Gilmartin was a very strong player but that whatever Jamesie had he could be heard over Gilmartin and Johnny said that was what Jamesie meant by the fiddle ‘singing’. He compared them to McCormack and Caruso, even though Caruso was a far stronger singer than McCormack, yet when singing in the Metropolitan Opera House McCormack could be heard at the very back of the House while Caruso could only be heard clearly half-way down the auditorium.
Note taken from discussion with Jimmy Burke
He (Gannon) had very long fingernails and very hard skin on his fingers. This was caused by his use of a large timber lapping plane which he was constantly using when making furniture. How he got such a beautiful tone was a great mystery to a lot of players, although he himself said that this was why he could project the music, that it was all coming from his heart and not his fingers.
Notes taken from discussions with Joe Frizzell
Joe spoke a lot about Gannon’s method of teaching. He said that he could read music and he transcribed the music onto a slate for his pupils as well as teaching them by ear. Sometimes he had a very sharp side to him and would use as old unwebbed bow which he always carried when teaching and if you weren’t doing what he had told you, you could get a sharp crack of the old bow.
Jamesie Gannon was always smartly dressed, nearly always in black, wearing a frock coat, but on a Sunday a ‘swallow tail’. Joe told me that Jamesie used to say that the correct name of the tune The Swallow’s Tail was The Swallow Tail; also, the tune Phil Beirne’s Delight was The Small House with the Big Chimney. He loved to play outside in the evening and always on his own. He was inspired by nature and the sound of the wind in the trees.
Joe Frizzell also mentioned about his use of resin. He said that he used very little and that also he drew the resin from some type of tree that grew locally. He maintained that too much resin caused a rough tone from the fiddle. He also webbed his own bows, as in fact did Charlie Flynn and the Burke brothers.
According to Joe Frizzell, Jamesie wrote the reel The Achonry Lassies and a lot more tunes as well, including some beautiful […] polkas and waltzes. His favourite reel was Rakish Paddy, just the two parts. He hated the extra parts; also, The Woman of the House with the little changed notes at the end of the first part which was how Tom Healy played it, and his favourite jig was Happy to Meet, Sorry to Part.
Note taken from Johnny Feely’s interview with Frank Walsh
Frank: The most important fiddle player around here was Jamesie Gannon of Crimlin. He was taught by an old blind fiddle player called Thomas Healy. Gannon was the daddy of them all. He had a beautiful tone, soft and sweet but powerful, it’s hard to explain, he could project the music out from the fiddle and there was a sort of an echo to it. You see Johnny, himself and Thomas Gilmartin used to play with the Good People, the people from the other world. If you mention this now, you’d be laughed at, but I know it’s true because I was there myself twice with Jamesie Gannon and when you played with them the music was never the same again. (I will share Johnny Feely’s full interview with Frank Walsh at a later date – RP).
Further Notes handwritten by Jamesie Gannon
In this handwritten note, Jamesie Gannon describes the string set-up on the fiddle as taught to him by Blind Fiddler Healy:
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Setting up the fiddle as taught to us by Tom Dall Healy
To get a soft sweet tone the strings should be set wide apart and the bridge nearly flat, higher on the G string and lower on the E.
The bridge should be brought forward about a ? or ¼ of an inch beyond the nicks in the f openings. Do not have the bridge in line with the slots. When the fiddle is set up like this it will give a sweet mellow tone and will carry the sound forward. It’s different from the classical players. It was Scanlon’s set up as well. For Sarah Ann |
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In this note, Gannon describes what he was taught on Tone & Bowing:
What I learned when I was young about Tone and how to use the Bow. No pressure or strong bowing, to hold the bow light and to drone the Bottom low notes. Always bring the low notes on the D string up with you so when you are playing the high notes the drone will carry up the top of the Bow for the high notes about six inches, no longer and always very light and gentle and a high bridge. The strings a good way up from the finger board, then the music will carry and always the strings far apart not on top of other, far distantly. You have to listen to Nature, the Birds and the river and the wind. It’s all music that’s where it comes from another place altogether. I’m afraid the young players don’t understand they’re changing the tunes too much altogether. I can’t explain it now, it all happened long ago when we used to be away, that’s when we learned it all from the other people, the great Ones but no one believes that anymore so now it’s not the same. I have no one to talk to anymore, they’re all gone, just for one hour. I still like to have a tune with Martin McCoy now and again. We’re all in God’s hands and he is behind everything I have seen and heard it all long long ago. |
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When Jamesie’s son, Willie, returned from America in 1928, he brought with him an “American Book” of Irish music tunes which included tunes composed by Thomas Dall Healy, Jamesie and Fiddler Mannion. Willie brought those tunes with him when he left Sligo for America in the late 1890s. The “American Book” may be O’Neill’s Music of Ireland(1903), in which the tune Good Morning to your Nightcap can be found (p. 275). According to local history, this tune was composed by Jamesie Gannon. O’Neill’s source for the tune was John McFadden.
Note on American Book & Charlie Flynn Harp There are old tunes in the American Book that were put together by Tom Haley, also my own tunes, including Chaffpool Post and Tom Devaneys(?). I gave some to Willie when he was going to America. Pat Mannion’s tunes are in the American Book as well. Tom brought a book home, and I wrote some of the tunes in ABC, easy to teach and understand. Denis Devaney came with Sarah Ann O’Connor and Peter James as well as Powell with the pipes, also Pat McHugh. They’re very rough, the pipes, not like Tom Kane. I called the reel after Kippeen and Quarryfield. * He was the best of them all. I hope and pray that things will settle here in the country. I gave the old fiddle to Thomas Gilmartin to fix, ‘twas all open at one side, and I have no time myself. Thomas is a great hand at that sort of work. I finished making the harp for Charlie (Flynn) yesterday. Give this note to Michael JG *Gannon’s composition The Humours of Quarryfield |
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Gannon’s Note on Travelling Musicians & Students
The travelling musicians come to the crossroads about every six weeks, some great pipers, the Groarks from Armagh I think, they have a lot of music. They come down here to the house and Denis Devaney, Sarah Ann O’Connor, Frank Walsh on the flute, outstanding flute player. I have a few very good pupils now, young Michael Gorman from Carracastle and Pake Murray from Rooskey, also young Frizzell lad from below the town, his aunt is a neighbor here. I’m putting this down so as I can remember later on. Young Coleman comes from Killavell, very gifted as long as he doesn’t change the music 2 much, that’s always the danger. PJ McDermott comes as well as Batt Henry, the schoolteacher. Things are bad after the war, no sense to what’s going on in the world, but we have trust in the Man above. I’m getting old but long ago that was the time for the music when we played with the good people. J Gannon. |
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Jamesie Gannon’s Compositions
The following list of tunes are attributed to Jamesie Gannon as composer:
James Murray’s Music Videos
Reels – Series 1
The following list of tunes are attributed to Jamesie Gannon as composer:
- Jamesie Gannon’s No.1 & The Chaffpool Post
- The Humours of Quarryfield
- The Crimlin Polka
- A Tribute to Joe Mor McDonnell
- The Humours of Lambpark
- The Crimlin Reel
- Good Morning to Your Nightcap
James Murray’s Music Videos
Reels – Series 1
- Charlie Flynn’s & Lamb Park
- Col. Frasier
- Domnick’s Brae
- Down the Broom & The Maids of Mount Kisco
- Eleanor’s Reel
- James Murray’s Nos. 1 & 2
- The Humours of Quarryfield
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