Annotation:Mysteries of Knock

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MYSTERIES OF KNOCK. AKA and see "Ladies of Carrick (The)," "Pretty Young Girls of Carrick (The)." Irish, Jig. A Mixolydian (Ryan/Cole): A Major (Taylor): D Major (Treoir). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Cole): AABB (Taylor, Treoir). Don Meade writes: "Fifteen villagers at Knock in County Mayo in 1789 claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary, whose shrine is still a pilgrimage site. The tune is similar to "Little House Under the Hill (1)," also printed in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (p. 87)." This jig was recorded in 1934 on a 78 RPM disc by tenor banjo player Michael Gaffney (b. 1896, Mullaun, Arigna, County Rosommon), although an even older recording was from violinist/fiddler Joseph Samuels in 1919 (see below).

Source for notated version: Michael Gaffney via the band Shaskeen (Ireland) [Taylor].

Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 54. Taylor (Crossroads Dance), 1992; No. 46, p. 34. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 82. Treoir, vol. 32, No. 3, 2000; p. 20.

Recorded sources: Decca 12041 (78 RPM), Michael Gaffney (1934. 2nd tune in medley after "Night Cap (1) (The)). Edison 50870 (78 RPM), Joseph Samuels, 1919 (appears as 4th tune of "St. Patrick's Day Medley"). Shanachie Records, Michael Gaffney - "Wheels of the World" (2005. Reissue recording, various artists). Shaskeen - "The Mouse Behind the Dresser" & "Shaskeen Live."

See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]
Hear Michael Gaffney's recording at the Comhaltas Archive [2]
Hear Joseph Samuel's 1919 recording at the Internet Archive [3] [4].




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