The Flogging Reel has a great driving rhythm and is a very popular session tune.
Generally agreed to have originated from the Scottish piping tune, The Flagon (also called The Alonby Lasses), the first written record of it is in a manuscript compiled by William Vickers in 1770.
There is some argument that the original version was a Scottish piper’s tune composed by Neil Gow but was modified to suit Irish musicians and the title was changed from the cheerful ‘flagon’, which is a large vessel with a handle and spout for holding wine or liquor, to the more painful ‘flogging’ perhaps reflecting the general zeitgeist of each country but we’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.
Take a look at Caitlín Nic Gabhann playing it on our Phoenix Concertina:
Alternate Versions
The Flogging Reel was first recorded by accordion virtuoso, John J. Kimmel in 1916. There have been a number of versions and variations since, with some gentle disagreement as to whether to play the Fs in the third part as as F naturals or keep them as F sharps.
You’ll note that Caitlín uses the F natural when she plays!
Throw in the F natural to impress your fellow musicians. I’d recommend taking a moment to confer before starting this at a session so you don’t end up clashing with your fellow session goers.
I’ve included the sheet music natation and ABC notation for the F natural version below. The alternative is almost identical – just change those F natural to sharps!
The Flogging Reel Sheet Music Notation
ABC Notation
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
BG ~G2 BGdG | BG ~G2 Bdgd | BG ~G2 BGdG | AGFG ABcA |
| BG ~G2 BGdG | BG ~G2 Bdgd | BG ~G2 BGdG |AGFG ABcd ||
g2 gd BGBd | g2 ge fgaf |gfgd BGBd | AGFG ABcd |
|g2 gd BGBd | g2 ge fgaf | bgaf gedB | AGFG ABcA ||
Bdgd Bdgd| Bdgd BGGB | Ac=fc Acfc | Ac=fc A=FFA |
|Bdgd Bdgd| Bdef g2 ga |bgaf gedB | AGFG ABcA ||
Sheet music & ABC thanks to thesession.org
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Share your thoughts
Do you have anythingbon tn whistles?
I tried to play this tune on whistle and was having a smashing good time until I got to the Cs and F naturals. How is it possible to play that quickly??? Are you supposed to be able to half-hole both of those at that pace?
Hi Michael, if you're using a half covered B as your C natural then I'm afraid you'll struggle to play this tune - or indeed any traditional Irish dance tune - at any sort of fast pace. If you use the cross fingering for C natural however (G finger and A finer down with B finger up) then you should be able to manage this at speed. It can take some time to get the half-hole for the F natural but with a little practice it should work!
Thank you so much and I am a big fan of Caitlin, and it is through her website and classes that I found you.
We are big fans of Caitlín too, Linda. Great to have you onboard. Paraic
Lovely playing, and as a result I've decided to purchase another flute!! I'm now in the middle of adding this tune to my repertoire, thank you kindly, Mark Kavanagh.
More power to you, Mark. It is one of the great tunes out there. If you need any advice regarding the new flute purchase drop me a line at [email protected].
Lovely! While I have you. I will be in Dublin this weekend and part of next week. I wanted to visit your store but I need to know if there is parking available at the store. Thank you Marie McAndrew