Annotation:Uncle Jim
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UNCLE JIM. AKA and see "Is Fearr Paidir ná Port," "Minion (The)," "Prayer is Better than a Tune (A)," “Steamboat March,” “Steam Boat Quickstep," “Washington Quickstep.” Canadian, Jig. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Jarman): AA’BB’ (Perlman). Credited to Ontario fiddler John Burt by Jarman, and the tune is a staple of fiddling in that region. It was picked by by American contra dancers and became associated with the dance Steamboat Quickstep, acquiring the name of the dance (there is a reel "Steamboat Quickstep" as well). However the tune is quite a bit older, and may have a Scottish or English provenance. North Yorkshire musician and miller Joshua Jackson entered it into his 1798 music manuscript collection under the title "Minion (The)."
Perlman (1996) records that these words were sung to the ‘B’ part on Prince Edward Island:
Mrs. MacArthur have you a daughter?
Yes, I have and a pretty one, too!
She has gone for a bucket of water,
When she comes in I will give her to you!
The Newfoundland song "Lots of fish in Boniface Harbor" also uses a variant of the tune.
The melody was recorded by the Kilfenora Ceili Band, who added it to their 5-part "Kilfenora Jig (1)." Irish versions go under the title “Is Fearr Paidir ná Port”, or “Prayer Is Better Than A Tune (A)."
Source for notated version: Elliot Wright (b. 1935, Flat River, Queens County, Prince Edward Island; now resident of North River) [Perlman]; Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ottawa Valley, Ontario) [Bégin].
Printed sources: Bégin (Fiddle Music in the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 32, p. 46. Jarman (The Cornhuskers Book of Square Dance Tunes), 1944; p. 16. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 139.
Recorded sources: Arc A650, Ned Landry - "More Ned Landry Fiddle Favorites" (1968).