The Tarbolton Reel
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"The Tarbolton Reel" is a two-part Scots reel named after the Tarbolton Lodge,<br> the Masonic Lodge in the village of Tarbolton, South Ayrshire, Scotland, near the River<br> Ayr. The name "Tarbolton" is from Tor-Bealtiunn in Gàidhlig, meaning "Hill of Beltane"<br> where Druidic festivals were held on May 1st celebrating the midpoint<br> between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Robert Burns (1759-1796) and his<br> Bachelor’s Club used to meet at the Tarbolton Lodge, where Burns was initiated into<br> Freemasonry.<br> The renowned Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman (1891-1945), also a respected step-dancer,<br> would play this tune in a set: "The Tarbolton/The Longford Collector/The Sailor’s Bonnet"<br> and it has become ensconced as a set in the sessions in Sligo, New York City, and many<br> other places ever since. Coleman emigrated to NYC in 1917 after doing a three year stint<br> with a vaudeville company playing the fiddle while dancing. It could be that Coleman<br> learned the tune in America, from Scottish fiddlers on Cape Breton playing in Boston.<br> In addition to its popularity in Ireland and the States, the tune is played in sessions<br> around Québec, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton, and Ontario.<br> It was recorded by The Bothy Band on The Bothy Band (1975),<br> The Chieftains on Chieftains 7 and others.<br> It was printed in<br> Harker’s 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty (2006),<br> MacDonald’s The Skye Collection (1887),<br> O’Neill’s The Dance Music of Ireland (1907),<br> Robertson's The Athole Collection of Scottish Dance Music (1884) and<br> Rubenzer’s Midwestern Irish Session Tunes (2000).<br>
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