Annotation:Thunderbolt Reel (The)
X: 1 T:The Thunderbolt (Reel) R:reel B:Dungreen Collection N:normally played in AEAE tuning D:i. Kinnon & Betty Beaton, Cape Breton Fiddle, Z:Paul Stewart Cranford (P.S.C.), <http://www.cranfordpub.com> L:1/8 M:C| Q:333 K:A F|ECEC ACED|CDEF ECB,2|A,CEC ACEA|FEFG A2 A,:| ||d|cAeA cBAd|cAdf ec B2|cAeA cBAG|FEFG A2 A,d| cAeA cBAd|cAdf ec B2|fbed cBAG|FEFG A2 A,|]
THUNDERBOLT (REEL), THE. Canadian, Reel (cut time). Canada, Cape Breton. A Major. AEae tuning (fiddle). AAB. According to Angus Allan Gillis’ daughter, the “Thunderbolt Reel” was named by Jack ‘Malcolm’ Gillis, and was a ‘high-bass’ tune that her father often played (MacGillivray, The Cape Breton Fiddler). Fiddler Jack Malcolm Gillis was recorded by folklorist Helen Creighton for the Library of Congress playing with Angus Chisholm and Angus Allan Gillis in 1944 in South West Margaree. Creighton also made recordings of his playing and accompaniment with other members of the Gillis clan at his home in Gillisdale, Cape Breton, N.S. A native Gaelic speaker, Gillis was born in 1893 as John Archibald Gillis, but went by the name Jack Malcolm Gillis. He died in 1978.
