Annotation:Sweet Colleen Rue
X:1 T:Sweet Colleen Rue M:C L:1/8 R:Air Q:"Mod.: rather slow." N:Learned from hearing it sung at home in Limerick as a child. S:Joyce – Old Irish Folk Music and Songs (1909) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Dmix DE|GAGE c2 dc|A>GED D2DE|G>AGE c2 d>c|A2 d>d d2 cd| edce d2 dB|cBAG E2 GA|c>d e/d/c/B/|A>G E/D/C/D/|E2 D>D D2||
SWEET COLLEEN RUE. AKA - "Sweet Cailín Ruadh." Irish, Slow Air (4/4 time). D Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part.
One evening fresh and fair as I roved to take the air,
Down by the pleasant water my way I did pursue
Advancing by its side where the stream did gently glide,
‘Twas there I first espied my sweet Colleen Rue. ...[Joyce]
A very close variant was entered into Book 2 of the large mid-19th century music manuscript collection of County Cork uilleann piper and Church of Ireland cleric wikipedia:James_Goodman_(musicologist) (1828-1896), who obtained it from the music manuscript of collector wikipedia:John_Edward_Pigot (1822-1871).