Annotation:Skibbereen Lasses (The)

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X:1 T:Skibbereen Lasses, The M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel S:O’Neill – Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 698 Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A e2 cA cdef|=gedc BcdB|e2 cA cdef|=gedB cA A2| e2 cA cdef|=gedc BcdB|cAcd edef|=gedB cA A2|| cAce a2 ef|=gedc BcdB|eA (3AAA a2 ef|=gedB cA A2| cAce a2 ef|=gedc BcdB|A2 (3Bcd eaaf|=gedB cA A2||


SKIBBEREEN LASSES, THE ("Na cailinide ua sgioboirin" or "Cailini sgiobirin"). Irish, Reel. A Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (O'Neill/1850 & 1001): AA'BB' (O'Neill/Krassen). The tune is corrected in O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland (1907) to a more modal setting, as opposed to the three sharps in his earlier Music of Ireland (1903). Paul de Grae points out that Skibbereen is in West County Cork, near the birthplace of both Francis O'Neill and his source for the tune, Abram Beamish[1]. The first strain is cognate with Canon James Goodman's "Humors of Glasses (1)" but the second strains differ.

Researchers Fr. John Quinn and Conor Ward link "Skibbereen Lasses" with the "Famous Ballymote (The)" tune family, which includes "Marquis of Huntly's Reel (3)," "Pleasant Gardens (The)," "Pride of Ahamore," "Roast Beef from London," "Rock Reel (The)," and "Sporting Days of Easter (4) (The)."


Additional notes
Source for notated version : - Abram Sweetman Beamish, a native of the adjoining parish to that of Caheragh, County Cork, where Francis O’Neill was born. Although O’Neill got seven tunes from Beamish, only the “Fairhaired Boy [1]” and “Tie the Bonnet” were previously known to him despite their common place of origin [O’Neill].

Printed sources : - O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 145. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1469, p. 272. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 698, p. 123.





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  1. ↑ Paul de Grae, "Notes on Sources to Tunes in the O'Neill Collections", 2017.
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