Annotation:Old Figary O'

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OLD FIGARY O'. AKA and see "Gallant Tippeary Boys (The)," "New May Moon," "Young May Moon (1)." Irish (originally), American; Jig. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Cole, Phillips, Ryan): AA'BB' (Miller). Well known in Ireland as a single jig or slide called "Gallant Tippeary Boys (The)," points out Paul de Grae. Frank Roche printed a two-part version in his collection under that title, and Francis O'Neill printed a four-part setting as "Gallant Tipperary." The jig is known in England as "New May Moon (1)," and was used by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) as the vehicle for his song "The Young May Moon." "Old Figaree (The)" is the title by which the jig was, and still is, called in County Leitrim, remarks uilleann piper Brian McNamara, who found it in the 19th century Stephen Grier manuscript.

"Old Figary" was a phrase in use in Ireland, as evidenced by its inclusion in an anti-tithe song printed in The Athenaeum (p. 797):

All the roots and grain that grow,
Assembled together in a row,
Great eloquence they did display,
And they resolved no Tithes to pay.

Chorus:
Sing rgidum rigidum dearly O,
The ministers they're running crazy O,
O'Connell's the boy that does them annoy,
For he's beginning his old figary O.

Source for notated version: John Francis [Phillips]; J. Hand [Ryan]. John or Jimmy Hand, "the boss jig player" is referred to several times in William Bradbury Ryan's collection.

Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 62. Miller (Fiddler's Throne), 2004; No. 85, p. 61. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; p. 374. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 91.

Recorded sources: Brian MacNamara - "A Piper's Dream."

See also listing at:
Hear a 1975 field recording of Washington state fiddler Joe Hanson, born in 1914 and raised in North Dakota where he fiddled for barn dances and house parties [1]

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