Annotation:Orphan (2) (The)

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ORPHAN [2], THE. AKA and see "Lough Allen's Fair Shore," "Miss Casey (1)." Irish, Jig. E Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Ciaran Carson (Last Night's Fun, 1996) points out the tune is a jig version of "Star of the County Down (The)." A very similar melody is "Miss Casey (1)" in O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903, No 1094), c.f. also Margaret Barry and Michael Gorman's less similar "Strayaway Child." Caoimhin Mac Aoidh informs that the tune is associated with fiddler Seamus Connolly, who recorded it as a 'separator' (the musical interlude between segments of a radio broadcast). It was heavily used by the influential Monday night RTE program "The Long Note" in the 1970's and became a popular part of traditional musicians' repertory throughout Ireland soon after. The air to the song "Lough Allen's Fair Shore" [1] (as sung by Mrs. May Harte) is cognate.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland, vol. 4), 1976; No. 56. Songer & Curley (Portland Collection, vol. 2), 2005; p. 149.

Recorded sources: Green Linnet SIF 1052, Kevin Burke - "Up Close" (1984). Shanachie 34010, Kathleen Collins - "Traditional Music of Ireland" (1976). Shanachie 79028, Silly Wizard - "Wild and Beautiful." Eileen Ivers - "Cherish the Ladies."

See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [3]
Hear a fiddle version on youtube.com [4]