Hello! Ask me (almost) anything about traditional music.
Annotation:Walls of Liscarroll (1)
X:1 T:Walls of Liscarroll [1] M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig S:O’Neill – Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 8 Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D A|d>cA A>GE|G>EE D2E|G>EE =c>EE|GAB =c2e| d>cA A>GE|G>EE D2E|G>EE =c>EE|D>ED D2:| |:A|d>cd ecA|d>cd ecA|=c>dc cBA|G>AB =cGE| A>de fed|e>dc dcA|G>EE =c>EE|D>ED D2:|]
WALLS OF LISCARROLL [1] (Ballaide Lios-Cearbaill). AKA and see "Andy Hehir's Jig," "Ballaí Lios Chearbhaill," "Coffee and Tea (3)," "Lads on the Mountain," "Lark in the Meadow.” Irish, Double Jig (6/8 time). D Mixolydian (most versions): E Dorian (Roche). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABC (Miller & Perron): AABB (O'Neill {all versions}, Roche, Taylor): AABB’ (Harker/Rafferty). The town of Liscarrol, meaning ‘Fort of Cearull,’ is located in the county of Cork, near the border with Limerick about halfway between the cities of Limerick and Cork, and dates from the early Middle Ages. There is a ruined castle there to which the title may refer, or it may perhaps reference a battle that occurred at Liscarroll in the 17th century. Williamson (1976) reports that one of the lords of the castle, Sir John Purcell of Hightort, “is remembered for his feat of slaying, when armed only with a carving knife, eight armed robbers as they forced their way into his bedroom.” There is a 4/4 time version of the tune in the American old time tradition called "Muddy Water (1)" (AKA and see). It has been suggested (by, for one, Louie W. Attebery in his article "The Fiddle Tune: An American Artifact" {1979}) that the name change from "Walls of Liscarroll" to "Muddy Water" came about in a process of naturalization due to anti-British sentiments during the War of 1812. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh, writing in the liner notes of Glackin & Hannan’s CD “Whirlwind” (1995) states the tune has a Munster provenance. Towards the end of the 20th century, he says, musicians frequently played the tune in higher pitched keys than was formerly the custom. John Kelly, for one, always preferred the older, lower version. See also the related “Little Black Pig” and the second part of “Matt Teahan's Delight.”
