Annotation:Banks of the Ilen (The)
X:1 T:Banks of the Ilen M:C| L:1/8 R:Hornpipe S:O'Neill - Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (837) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D AG|FDFA d2 fe|d2 fd ecAG|FDFA d2 fd|ecAF GBAG| FDFA d2 fe|d2 fd ecAG|FDFA d2 fd|ecAF G2:| |:de|f2 fd g2 ge|abag fdde|f2 fd g2 ge|abaf g2 fg| abaf gage|fgfd ecAG|FDFA defd|ecAF G2:||
BANKS OF THE ILEN, THE. AKA and see "Midnight Maid (The)" "Queens County Lasses (The)," "New Tobacco (The)," "Seanbhean na gCártaí," and "Six Mile Bridge (1)." Irish, Reel or Hornpipe. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. O'Neill prints the tune (named for the river in Co. Cork that passes by Skibbereen) as a hornpipe, though it is most often heard now-a-days as a reel. It is known in the Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork/Kerry border as "Seanbhean na gCártaí," or "Tom Billy's." Rendered as a double jig, the tune appears under the title "Humors of Drinagh (1) (The)." Peter Kennedy sees relatedness with his "Humors of Six Mile Bridge." Versions of the reel appear in the large mid-19th century music manuscript collection of County Cork cleric and uilleann piper Canon James Goodman under the titles “Midnight Maid (The)” and "Queens County Lasses (The)," and in the c. 1883 music manuscript collection of County Leitrim piper and fiddler biography:Stephen Grier as "New Tobacco (The)."
