Annotation:Woeful Widow (The)
X:1 T:Woeful Widow, The M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig S:O’Neill – Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 307 Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Emin d|efe edB|dBA BGE|GAG BdB|BAA ABd| efe edB|dBA BGE|GFG BdB|AGG G2:| |:A|GBd ~g3|agf g2e|gfe edB|dBA BGE| GBd ~g3|agf g2e|dBA BGE|DGG G2:|]
WOEFUL WIDOW, THE. AKA and see “Humors of Lisheen (The),” “Thrush in the Straw (2) (The).” Irish, Jig. E Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Paul de Grae remarks:
Perhaps derived from Petrie's "Slán agus beanacht lé búadhraibh an t-saoghail" (SP 1478; literally, "farewell and blessings to the troubles of life"), O'Neill's first part is an almost exact transposition from F to G of Petrie's tune; the second part is also very close to Petrie's, but where Petrie ends the second part the same way as the first, O'Neill re-uses the opening motif of the second part.
Petrie's other airs of the same title [SP 1461-3] are unrelated to this jig tune.
In very slightly different form, the tune is common in Sliabh Luachra as "The Humours of Lisheen."
The jig was recorded by piper Seamus Ennis in 1959 as "Thrush in the Straw."