Annotation:White Leaf (The)
X:1 T:White Leaf, The M:4/4 L:1/8 R:Reel S:Francis Reynolds MSS, c. 1885 (Gaigue, Ballinamuck, Co. Longford) Z:Transcribed by Conor Ward N:Ward remarks: "Note that the bowing style used by Reynolds throughout N:the tune was known locally as 'slur and cut' - for a group of four N:quavers the first two notes are slurred the second two are cut." K:A af|eA A/A/A (eA)fA|eA A/A/A (fe)dc|(Bc)de (fe)dc|(Bc)de f2 af| eA A/A/A (eA)fA|eA A/A/A (fe)dc|(Bc)de (fg)af|edc(B A2):| |:fg|aA A/A/A (aA)fA|aA A/A/A (ag)fg|bB B/B/B (bB)fB|bB B/B/B (ba)fg| aA A/A/A (aA)fA|aA A/A/A (fe)dc|(Bc)de (fg)af|(ed)cB A2:|]
WHITE LEAF (An duilleog bhán). AKA and see "Marquis of Tullibardine (The)," "New Policeman (5) (The)." Irish, Reel. A Major (Miller & Perron): G Major (Breathnach). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Randy Miller and Jack Perron thought it might have been composed by their source, Oliver O'Higgins, but it is considerably older than that. “The White Leaf” is thought by a few to be similar to the well-known “Mason's Apron (The), but researcher Conor Ward finds that it is cognate with and probably derived from another Scottish reel called "Marquis of Tullibardine (The)." He writes: "This was one of the most popular tunes played in the area of Leitrim and Longford. I have found it across several regional manuscripts from the late 19th century onwards, all mostly with the title "The White Leaf." See also the variant “Tinker's Bib (The)” (Stephen Grier MS, Co. Leitrim, 1883). "The White Leaf" was sometimes called “Green Leaf (The).” Ward also finds a cognate version in Rev. Luke Donnellan's "New Policeman (5) (The)," and another in a musician's manuscript from the Leitrim/Longford area in which the tune is ideosyncratically called "Donegal Lasses (The)" (the title belongs to other tunes).
X:1 T:Donegall [sic] Lasses, The M:C L:1/8 K:Gmix e|dGBG dGBG|dGBG edcB|ABcd eAAf|edef gedB| dGBG dGBG|dGBG edcB|ABcd edef|gfed (eg) g2:| |:gG G2 BG G2|gG G2 edcB|aA A2 cA A2|aAAf gedc| gG G2 BG G2|gG Gf edcB|ABcd edef|gfed (eg) g2:|]
North Longford fiddler Michael Francis McNerney (1898-1975), Ward notes, played the tune in ADae tuning. Belfast fiddler Sean McGuire recorded both "Mason's Apron" and "The White Leaf" in the 1960's (see Avoca AV 139 for "White Leaf").
