Annotation:Fisher's Fancy

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FISHER'S FANCY. Irish, Reel. A reel that was mentioned by O'Neill (1913) in a tale of piper John Hicks, a Kildare piper who emigrated to America around 1850. Hicks made his living playing in cities around the country and one season, while playing in Chicago, he was invited to a pub by a fiddler named Patsy Kilroy. The piper played so well that Kilroy became jealous and regretted his sponsorship of the piper. They were playing "Fisher's Fancy" together "when in comes Bill Thompson, the local blacksmith and farrier. Bill, who was as fine a specimen of the Irish peasant as I ever laid eyes on, listened patiently while the musicians played a few rounds of the tune. Placing his brawny hand on Kilroy's shoulder, he softly said, 'Put up that washstaff avic and let the man play the pipes."

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