Re "birls" and the tunes "Brenda Stubbert's" and "Molly Rankin"s" {Cape
Breton Compositions} the execution of the down-up-down birl on these
tunes is straight forward if you play the first beat of the measure with
a down bow; the former has the birl on the first beat and the latter has
it on the "and" of the first beat with two eight notes before it which
gives you a down bow for the birl. Fiddlers might be interested in the
birling of the following tunes; "The Ale Is Dear" which has two birls
in several measures each separated by two eight notes. Exclusive
down-up-down birls would require every pair of eight notes to be
slurred. For me that's not very interesting. Two Skinner reels with the
same characteristics are "The Bungalow" and "Miss Mary Walker". On the
other hand there are many options with these types of tunes if one can
also bow up-down-up. Another interesting tune in this regard is the
strathspey "The Devil in the Kitchen" where there are successive birls.
Alexander
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