Hello! Ask me (almost) anything about traditional music.
Annotation:Burnt Leg (The)
Back to Burnt Leg (The)
BURNT LEG, THE. AKA and see "Banks of Garry (The)," "Bonnet Makers of Dundee (The)," "Sweet Mally." Scottish (originally), Canadian; Reel or Strathspey. Scotland, Skye. Canada; Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton. E Dorian (MacDonald, Perlman): E Minor (Cranford). Standard tuning. AA'B (Perlman): AABB (Cranford, MacDonald). The melody is from the Isle of Skye, according to editor MacDonald, however, Paul Stewart Cranford finds the tune printed in earlier collections under different titles: in James Aird's 1st (1782) as "Sweet Mally" and in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection as "Bonnet Makers of Dundee (The)." Cranford mentions that the tune is popular among Cape Breton fiddlers. It was in the repertoire of Cape Breton fiddlers Bill Lamey (who played it as a strathspey) and was recorded by Joe MacLean (as a reel). See also "Sweet Molly (2)."
Source for notated version: Kevin Chaisson (b. 1950, Bear River, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman].
Printed sources: Cranford (Jerry Holland's Collection), 1995; No. 141, p. 41. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 71. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 109.
Recorded sources:
