Annotation:O'Gallagher's Frolics

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O'GALLAGHER'S FROLICS (Cleasa Ui Galcobair). AKA - "Gollaher's Frolics." AKA and see "Gallagher's Frolic (3)," "Golliher's Frolic." Irish, Jig. E Minor (O'Neill/Krassen): D Minor (O'Neill/1850 & 1001). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. O'Neill (Irish Folk Music) says this tune bears "a close resemblance" to the jig "Frieze Breeches (1)" and the song "I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave." The melody, set in major-mode, predates O'Neill's publication by twenty years, appearing in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) as "Golliher's Frolic". It is possible O'Neill altered the title to honor piper Charles O'Gallagher, a member, like O'Neill, of Chicago's Irish Music Club at the turn of the 20th century.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 53. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1008, p. 188. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 222, p. 51. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 86.

Recorded sources:




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