Annotation:Ree Raw (2)
X:1 T:Ree Raw [2] M:6/8 L:1/8 Q:"Moderato Grazioso" B:Petrie – Ancient Music of Ireland (1855, p. 58) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:F c2 {dc=B}c G2A|c2 {dc=B}c A2F|c2 {dc=B}c G2A|c2 {dc=B}c A2F| eGG dGG|c2c (A2G)|eGG dGG|c2c (A2G)| cGG dGG|eGG dGG|eGG dGG|c2c (A2G)| c2{dc=B}c G2A|c2 {dc=B}c A2F|c2 {dc=B}c G2A|c2 {dc=B}c !fermata!A2!fermata!F||
REE RAW [2]. Irish, March (6/8 time). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. "Ree Raw [2]" is one of several tunes included in a manuscript sent to collector George Petrie by one James Fogarty. The latter had emigrated from Tibroghney, Kilkenny, to America in 1852, in the aftermath of the Great Famine, and reported that the tune was peculiar to his native locale, based on a war march air sung by those on their way to the once popular May festivals in Fiddown. After the melody was sung, its tempo would be increased to the jig below, until collapsing on itself; thus the once-a-time meaning of ree raw as uproar, confusion or boisterous merriment, although the title was also an Anglicized version of the Irish name Rí an Rátha (King of the Rath i.e. a fairy rath, or fort). The meanings perhaps link the 'boisterous merriment' with the fairy king, the Lord of Misrule. Petrie’s suggestion is that the tune was of some antiquity, perhaps harkening back to when chieftains led clans in Ireland.
