Annotation:Morning Star (1)

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MORNING STAR [1] ("An Maidineog", "Réalt na Maidine"). AKA and see "Belles of Omagh." Irish, English, American; Reel. USA, New England. G Major (most versions): F Major (Martin Hayes). Standard tuning (fiddle). AA' (Harker/Rafferty): AB (Allan, Flaherty, Tubridy): AAB (Kennedy, Miller & Perron, O'Neill/1850 & 1001, Raven, Stanford/Petrie, Tolman): AA'BB (O'Neill/Krassen). The reel is common to Irish repertory, but has been widely disseminated. Irish collector George Petrie (1855) thought the tune might have been Scotch in origin. Lending weight to this assertion is the fact that a reel called "Farmer Killed His Ox Today (The)" is a Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, variant. This is perhaps the version of the tune that is known as "Canny Little Lad (The)" in the Shetlands. An Irish variant goes by the name "Green Fields of Eire (The)" and Cat that Ate the Candle (1) (The)" is sometimes identified as a related tune (in this index identified as "Morning Star (6) (The)"). East Clare fiddler Martin Hayes plays the tune in F Major (in is not uncommon for East Clare musicians to play down a step). Philip Heath-Coleman finds a relationship between Texas fiddler Eck Robertson's old-time breakdown "Sallie Johnson" and "Morning Star", albeit more pronounced in the first strain of each tune.

Patsy Touhey

Variety stage performer and uilleann pipe master Patrick "Patsy" Touhey (1865-1923) made the first sound recording of the reel, in 1907.

The name 'morning star' is quite common and has been applied to a number of things, including religious and astronomical (the 'stars' seen in the early morning light are usually planets, often Venus {which is also seen at dusk and known as 'the Evening Star')}. The Morning Star is also the name of a river in County Limerick whose source is in the Ballyhoura Mountains in Cork and which flows into the Maigue near Athlacca in the southern Limerick, and the name has been applied to various ships, newspapers and pubs for centuries.

Sources for notated versions: fiddler Kathleen Morris (Corlisheen, Ballyrush, County Sligo) [Flaherty]; "A Cork reel. From P. Carew's MS" [Stanford/Petrie]; New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker]; Martin Hayes (east Clare, Ireland) [Jack Tuttle/Fiddler Magazine].

Printed sources: Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), 1990; p. 59. Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 10, p. 3. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), vol. 1, 1951; No. 30, p. 15. Kennedy (Traditional Dance Music of Britain and Ireland: Reels and Rants), 1997; No. 141, p. 34. McDermott (Allan's Irish Fiddler), c. 1920’s; No. 47, p. 12. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler's Repertoire), 1983; No. 124. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 94. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1191, p. 224. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 475, p. 91. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 160. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 895, p. 226. Tolman (Nelson Music Collection), 1969; p. 12. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two), 1999; p. 23.

Recorded sources: Columbia 35612, "The Chieftains" (1978). Great Meadow Music GMM 2003, "Rodney Miller's Airdance" (2000). Green Linnett CD 1127, "Martin Hayes" (1993). Na Píobairí Uilleann NPU CD 001, Patsy Touhey - "The Piping of Patsy Touhey" (2005). Shanachie 33001, Patsy Touhey - "Wheels of the World" (1976). Tartan Tapes CDTT1004, Aiden O'Rourke - "Heat the Hoose" (1998).

See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]
Hear Patsy Touhey's recording on youtube.com [3] (2nd tune in medley, following "Steampacket (The)" and before "Miss McLeod's Reel (1)")

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