Annotation:Star above the Garter (The)

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X: 1 T:Star above the Garter, The R:slide Z:id:hn-slide-9 M:6/8 K:G d2B BAG|A3 ABA|G2E c2B|BAG ABc| d2B BAG|A3 ABA|G2E c2E|D3 D3:| |:d2e f2a|g2e d2B|G2B c2B|BAG ABc| d2e f2a|g2e d2B|G2B c2E|D3 D3:|



STAR ABOVE THE GARTER, THE (An réalt os cionn an ghairtéir). AKA and see "Kerry Slide (The)," "Lisheen No. 1," "Lisheen Slides (The)." Irish, Slide (12/8 time). Ireland, Kerry. G Major/D Mixolydian ('A' part) & D Mixolydian ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The meaning of the title is unknown, however, the pairing of the words "star" and "garter" has considerable history. The Most Noble Order of the Garter, also called The Star and Garter, is an English chivalric order whose origins are ancient, having been founded in 1348 by Edward, Prince of Wales. The story goes that at a ball possibly held at Calais, Joan Countess of Salisbury dropped her garter and King Edward (III) seeing her embarrassment picked it up and bound it about his own leg saying in French, ‘Evil, (or shamed) be he that that thinks evil of it'; this is almost certainly a later fiction. There are those that believe this to be a fable, perhaps perpetrated by the French to bring discredit, but the origins are rather obscure. The regalia of the order includes a ‘garter’ that is a necklace, while the star is a medal to be worn on the chest. As a famous symbol of upper-class station, the name was transferred to items and situations that had pretensions to status. For example, the Star and Garter is also the name of a famous English Hotel at Richmond, whose hey-day was the early 19th century. Still, there are no specific references in the order to a star above a garter, and what was originally meant by the title (or why it was applied to an Irish tune) is not known. It has sometimes maintained that the title is a sexual entendre, but this has also been dismissed as having origins in salacious 'session-talk'.

The tune was popularized by Kerry fiddlers (and siblings) Dennis Murphy (1910-1974) and Julia Clifford (1914-1997), both pupils of the influential Sliabh Luachra fiddle teacher Pádraig O’Keeffe (1887-1963). The tune has no musical relationship to Mac Amhlaoibh’s “Star Above (The).”


Additional notes
Source for notated version : - fiddler Dennis Murphy and Julia Clifford (Sliabh Luachra region, Co. Kerry) [Mulvihill]; Paddy Ryan [Bulmer & Sharpley].

Printed sources : - Beisswenger (Irish Fiddle Music from Counties Cork and Kerry), 2012; p. 79. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; p. 264. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland, vol. 2), 1974; No. 59. Mallinson (100 Enduring), 1995; No. 67, p. 28. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 7, p. 116. Prior (Fionn Seisiún 2), 2003; p. 33. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 190. Sullivan (Session Tunes, vol. 3), n.d.; No. 22, p. 8.

Recorded sources : - Claddagh CC5, Denis Murphy & Julia Clifford – “The Star Above the Garter” (originally recorded 1969). Claddagh CC14, Chieftains "Chieftains 4.” Ossian OSS CD 130, Sliabh Notes – “Along Blackwater’s Banks” (2002). Pied Piper PPP301, Chulrua – “Barefoot on the Altar.” Shanachie 79024, "Chieftains 4" (1972/1983). RTE CD183, Denis Murphy & Johnny O'Leary - Music from Sliabh Luachra (1995, recorded 1949). Tara 1008, John & James Kelly – “Irish Traditional Fiddle Music” (1973). Denis Murphy (with Johnny O’Leary) – “The Star Above the Garter” (a 1949 performance in Denis’s house, recorded by Seamus Ennis. The pair played the ‘c’ notes sharpened).

See also listing at :
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]



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