Annotation:Grace O'Malley

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GRACE O'MALLEY (Graine Ua Maille/Maol). AKA and see "Graine Maol," "Graine Mhaol." Irish, Air (4/4 time). G Dorian (O'Neill): E Minor (Johnson). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. A version of a song and air composed in honor of Grace O'Malley, daughter of a chieftain. The song can be found in James N. Healy's Irish Ballads and Songs of the Sea (1967, p. 50, No. 28). The O'Malley's were for several hundred years the dominant clan of the Mayo coast, and were known for their seafaring skill. At the height of her fame Grace commanded a fleet of galleys and was regarded by the English powers in Ireland as a 'notorious feminine sea-pirate', and a force for be conciliated. The song was in reality a Jacobite lyric in favor of the Stuarts, and an allegorical name for Ireland. See note for "Graine Mhaol." O'Neill's melody is nearly identical to Petrie's "Poor Old Granua Weal" and sounds very much like some versions of "Foggy Dew (3) (The)."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Johnson (The Kitchen Musician No. 5: Mostly Irish Airs), 1985 (revised 2000); p. 8. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 485, p. 85.

Recorded sources:

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