Annotation:Keepsake (The)
X:1 T:Keepsake, The M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Air Q:"Gracefully" S:O'Neill - Music of Ireland (1903), No. 575 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G B/c/|ded dec|dge dBG|ceg edB|{c}BAA A2 B/c/| ded dec|dge dBG|gBe dBG|{B}AGG G2:| |:d|g>ag gfg|afd d2 e/f/|g>ab bag|afd d2 e/f/| gag fgf|efe d2 e/f/|gBe dBG|{B}AGG G2:|]
KEEPSAKE, THE (An Cuimneacan). AKA and see "Kerry Girls (The)," "What's that to anyone whether or no?" Irish, Air (6/8 time, "gracefully"). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Chief O'Neill was sometimes stung by criticism of tunes admitted to his massive Music of Ireland (1903). In a 1906 letter to Alfred Percival Graves in 1906 (printed in "A Few Gossipy Notes" in the Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society, London, he wrote:
Another tune "jumped on" was No. 575 ("The Keepsake"), I suppose on account of its name. It is a well-known Irish air, originally published in Smith's Irish Minstrel, Edinburgh, 1824, as "What's that to Anyone, whether or no?" Our setting is much superior to that."
