Annotation:Joe Cant's Reel

Find traditional instrumental music

Back to Joe Cant's Reel


JOE CANT'S REEL (Cor Seosam Uí Canta). Scottish, Irish; Reel. A Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The provenance of the tune is unknown, although Chicago Highland piper Joe Cants was a native of Inverness, Scotland, born in the mid-1840's. His brother Andrew was piper to the Earl of Breadalbane. Cants won Highland piping competitions in the American mid-west in the late 19th century, and was much admired by Francis O'Neill for his piping proficiency. A carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade, Cant became a shop foreman, and eventually had his own successful business in the city. He also occasionally turned his skill to manufacturing pipe sets., "the half-size reel set with stock and bellows being his favorite" [O'Neill, Irish Minstrels and Musicians, p. 352].

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 568.

Recorded sources:




Back to Joe Cant's Reel