Annotation:Sheela na Gigg

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X:1 T:She la na Gig T:Sheela na Gigg M:9/8 L:1/8 R:Slip Jig and Country Dance Tune N:The last tune in the dance set Irish Lilt B:Straight and Skillern – Two Hundred and Four Favourite B:Country Dances, vol. 1 (c. 1775, No. 185, p. 93) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D F2G ABc d3|F2G AB=c B3|F2G AB^c d3|F2G AB=c B3:| |:d2d ded cBA|B2B Bcd AFD|d2d ded cBA|B2B BcB AFD:| |:G2A BGE BGE|F2G AFD AFD|G2A BGE BGE|FGA Bcd AF!fermata!D:|]


SHEELA NA GIGG. AKA and see "Sheela's Kiss, "Sheila's Kiss, "Shillin' a Jig." Irish, English; Slip Jig (9/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABC (Hime). Sheela na Gig is the name of a Celtic fertility goddess. The melody was used in Kane O’Hara’s ballad opera Midas (1764), and it was part of a set of five tunes used for a dance called “Irish Lilt” at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (also including “Irish Lilt (8),” “Priest and his Boots (1) (The),” “Trip to the Dargle (A)” and “Lango Lee (1)”). William Vickers included it in his 1770 music manuscript as "Shillin' a Jig" (copied from an earlier London publication by the Thompsons), and R.M. Levey printed the slip jig in 1873 as "Sheela's Kiss."

Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : -James Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 5), Glasgow, 1797; No. 96, p. 37. Hime (Forty Eight Original Irish Dances Never Before Printed with Basses, vol. 1), Dublin, 1804; No. 22. Kennedy (Fiddler’s Tune-Book: Slip Jigs and Waltzes), 1999; No. 73, p. 17 (as "Sheila's Kiss"). Mulhollan (Selection of Irish and Scots Tunes), Edinburgh, 1804; p. 36. Straight and Skillern (Two Hundred and Four Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1), c. 1775; No. 185, p. 93. Samuel, Anne & Peter Thompson (The Hibernian Muse), London, 1787; No. 53, p. 32

Recorded sources: -


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