Annotation:Craig's Reel

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X:1 T:Craig's Reel B:O'Neill's "Dance Music of Ireland - 1001 Gems", #488 D:Jackie Daly, "Many's A Wild Night" Z:transcribed by Han Speek R:Reel M:4/4 L:1/8 K:D A2 G2||{A}FDFA B2 B/=c/^c|dBc/B/A BEEG|{A}FDFA B2 B/=c/^c|dBAG FDDE| {A}FDFA B2 B/=c/^c|dBc/B/A BEEF|G3 A B/c/d eg|fdec AddA|| d2 f/e/d Adf/e/d|Adf/e/d eBBA|d2 f/e/d Adf/e/d|faeg fddA| d2 f/e/d Adf/e/d|Adf/e/d eBBA|g2 fd (3efg fe|dBAG FD D2||



CRAIG'S REEL ("Seiso uí Carraig" or "Cor Uí Carraig"). AKA and see "Old Connemara Stockings." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (O'Neill/1850 & 1001): AA'BB' (O'Neill/Krassen). The tune was recorded by Bronx fiddler Martin Mulvihill under the title "Con Mullane's." Mulvihill was originally from County Limerick, and Mullane was a musician from the County Limerick/Kerry border area. Paul de Grae identifies the tune as a variant of "Merry Lads of Foss (The)" [1].

Piper Sergeant James Early (c. 1840-1914), born near Carrigallen, County Leitrim, joined the Chicago police force in 1874.
Researcher Conor Ward points out the tune compares with "Highlander's Kneebuckle (1)" and "Doon Reel (6) (The)."


Additional notes
Source for notated version : - Early [O'Neill]. Sergeant James Early was born in the late 1840's in Cloone, County Leitrim, and learned the flute and fiddle in his native country. He emigrated to the United States after the Civil War and found employment in the mining camps of the northwest, but eventually settled in Chicago and in 1874 became a member of the police force. It was only then that Early took up the uilleann pipes, under the tutelage of a friend and relative, James Quinn, but he relatively quickly gained proficiency on the instrument. For some twenty years he was the playing partner of fiddler John McFadden, with whom his name is often paired. Early died in Chicago in 1914, but not before making some cylinder recordings for O'Neill which still survive.

Printed sources : - O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 98. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1212, p. 229. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 488, p. 93.

Recorded sources : - Gael-Linn CEF 176, Jackie Daly - "Many's the Wild Night."




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  1. Paul de Grae, "Notes on Sources of Tunes in the O'Neill Collection", 2011.