Annotation:Moll in the Wad (1) (The)

Back to Moll in the Wad (1) (The)

---

MOLL IN THE WAD [1], THE. AKA and see "Kelly the Rake," "Tipsy Sailor (3) (The)." American, Irish, Canadian; Jig. G Major/Minor ('A' part) & B Flat Major ('B' part, Cole; 'C' part, Fitzgerald]: G Minor [Messer]. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Cole, Messer): AA'BB'AA'CC' (Cranford/Fitzgerald). 'The moll in the wad' = 'the girl in the straw', although sometimes 'the girl in the wood'. The tune is played in Irish (albeit as "Kelly the Rake") and Cape Breton traditions, sourced to Boston publisher Elias Howe's Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883). Paul Cranford (1997) remarks that the second turn in Fitzgerald's three-part version was likely composed by him (the first and third parts appear in Ryan's/Cole's). The second part of Ryan's/Cole's version appears as the first part of Fitzgerald's version; the first part of Ryan's/Coles version appears as the third part of Fitzgerlad's version. Francis O'Neill printed a nearly identical version in his Music of Ireland (1903) under the title "Kelly the Rake" (No. 737), although he also printed a single jig called "Moll in the Wad (2)" that bears no resemblance to the Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) tune. Curiously (as Paul De Grae points out), it is printed immediately following "Kelly the Rake" in his volume (No. 738), and (as Caoimhin Mac Aoidh suggests) perhaps O'Neill made an error in borrowing tunes from Ryan's volume for his own collection.

The tune (in G minor) was recorded as "Tipsy Sailor (3) (The)" in 1968 by Canadian fiddler King Ganam [1](1914-1994), "Canada's King of the Fiddle," born to Syrian=English parents. The tune under this title long predates him, as it was published as "Tipsy Sailor" in White's Unique Collection, one of the last Howe publications, in 1896.

Source for notated version: Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford].

Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 58. Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 185, p. 73. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 142, p. 90. Page (Northern Junket, vol. 9, No. 12), 1969; p. 24. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 88.

Recorded sources: RCA Camden CAL-2207, King Ganan - "Ridein' the Fiddle" (1968, as "Tipsy Sailor (3) (The)). Natalie MacMaster - "In My Hands." Rounder Records 7052, Buddy MacMaster - "The Cape Breton Tradition" (2003. Learned from Cole's 1000 Fiddle Tunes).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [3]

---