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Annotation:Hand Me Down the Tackle (1)
X:1 T:Hand me Down the Tackle [1] B:Karen Tweed's Irish Choice M:4/4 L:1/8 Z:transcribed by Juergen Gier K:D "D"dD~D2 FDFA|"D"dfaf "A7"gfec|"D"dD~D2 FDFA|"G"BGEF "A7"GABc| "D"dD~D2 FDFA|"D"dfaf "Em"gfec|"D"d2cd BdAF|"G"GBEF "A7"GABc:| "D"d2fd Adfd|"D"~d2fd "A7"BAFA|"D"dafd Adfd|"G"BGEF "A7"GABc| "D"d2fd Adfd|(3B"G"cd ef "Em"g3^g|"A7"afge fded|"A7"BGEF GABc| "D"d2fd Adfd|"D"~d2fd "A7"BAFA|"D"dafd Adfd|"G"BGEF "A7"GABd| "D"a2 (3ba^g afdf|"G"gfed "Em"cbag|"A7"faec dBAF|"A7"GBEF GABc|]
HAND ME DOWN THE TACKLE [1]. AKA and see "Drogheda Lass (1)/Drogheda Lasses (1) (The)," "Drogheda Reel (The)," "Dangerous Reel (The)," "Hielanman's Kneebuckle," "Highlander's Kneebuckle (4) (The)," "Jolly Hammerman (The)," "Miss Flannagan," "Pure Drop (2) (The)," "Reidy Johnson's (2)," "Road to Drogheda," "Tom Steele," "Tomm Steele." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB'. "Haand Me Doon da Tackle," as it is called, is also played in the Shetland Isles, and has currency among Cape Breton fiddlers. Paddy Glackin identifies it as a tune from the Donegal tradition, and that his is "an interesting version of a well-known reel which is a favorite with pipers." O'Neill calls the tune "Tom Steele" (likely a nod to one of Daniel "The Liberator" O'Connell's political associates) and this was the title used by the Flanagan brothers when they recorded the melody in the United States in 1928. "Drogheda Lasses (1) (The)" is a related tune. See also an untitled reel in Breathnach Ceol Rince na hÉireann vol. III (1985; No. 189), and Rev. Luke Donnellan's "Miss Flannagan."
Frank Ferrel notes that the tune was a favorite of Cape Breton fiddlers Arthur Muise, Gerry Holland and Carl MacKenzie.