Annotation:Dillon's Fancy (1)
X:1 T:Dillon's Fancy [1] M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel S:O'Neill - Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 540 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A EAAc eA (3cBA|ceae (3fga ed|cdef edcA|(3Bcd cA BF {G}(3FEF| EAAc eA (3cBA|ceae (3fga ed|cefg agaf|edcB Aceg|| {b}aece {b}aece|agbg aece|{b}aece {b}aecA|GABc defg| {b}aece {b}aece|agbg aece|A/B/c/d/ e/f/g agaf|edcB ABAF||
DILLON'S FANCY [1] (Roga Uí Dillon). AKA - "Dillon's Reel," "Mountcollins Reel (The)." Irish, Reel. A Major (O'Neill): G Major (Flaherty, Mulvihill). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (O'Neill/1915): AA'B (O'Neill/1850): AABB (Flaherty, Mulvihill). The earliest printing of the tune is in O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903), where it is named for his source, Chicago police patrolman and fiddler Timothy Dillon. Dillon was born in the Parish of Rathea, near Newmarket West, County Limerick, in 1846, and began studying the violin at age nine with a local master named Patrick O'Grady. He also began to study dance at around the same time, and was known for his skill at both music and dancing. O'Neill thought highly of him as a person and a musician and found him even-tempered, kind and genial. O'Neill, while praising his skill on the fiddle, also thought his style unique: "the plaintive, pleading, haunting tones which Officer Dillon produces on his instrument are indescribably weird and wailing even in his reveling reels" (Irish Minstrels and Musicians, p. 395. O'Neill also records a few stories told by Dillon that make for interesting reading--see pp. 432-433).
