The Gooseberry Bush
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"The Gooseberry Bush", in Gaelic "An Spionán" or "An Tor Spionán" is an Irish reel in<br> D Major (O'Neill), D Mixolydian (Breathnach) or D Major/Mixolydian (Harker/Rafferty, Vallely).<br> The parts are played ABC (O'Neill), AABBC (Breathnach) or AABBCC (Harker/Rafferty, Vallely).<br> A gooseberry bush is a spiny Eurasian bush that has greenish purple-tinged flowers and yields<br> berries that are yellow-green or red-purple in color. The name stems from the association of the<br> berries which were once used to make a sauce for cooking a goose, but the thorns on the plant<br> also resemble a goose's foot.<br> 'Gooseberry Bush' has been used as a euphemism for female pubic hair and genitalia, and indeed,<br> countless children were informed in past times that babies were found 'under a gooseberry bush'.<br> This usage may have derived from the French for gooseberry, groseille a marquerea. Marquereau is<br> the word for pimp, while une femme gross is the term given to a pregnant woman. <br> It was printed in Breathnach's CRÉ II (1976),<br> Harker's 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty (2005),<br> O'Neill's Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies (1903) and<br> Vallely's Armagh Pipers Club Play 50 Reels (1982).<br> It was recorded by Paddy Glackin on In Full Spate (1991),<br> Matt Molloy & Seane Keane on Contentment is Wealth (1985),<br> Mick Moloney on Strings Attached,<br> Mary Rafferty on Hand Me Downs (2002) and<br> The Paddy O'Brien Collection. <br>
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