Annotation:Connemara Stockings
X: 1 T: Connemara Stockings M: C| L: 1/8 R: Reel K: G g2fg edBA|GABG AGED|GABd eaag|fdef gaba| g2fg edBA|GABG AGED|GABd eaag|fdef gdef|| gbef gbe2|fade fad2|gbef gbeg|fedf e2ed| ebba b2ag|eaag ~a3f|g2ge f2fd|edef gaba||
CONNEMARA STOCKINGS. AKA and see "Boston Rattlers'," "Hobb's Favorite," "Galway Reel (1)," "Kilrush Races," "Winter Apples (2)." Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The name Connemara derives from the name of the ancient tribe who lived in that area of Ireland, the people of Con mac na Mara. Connemara's coastline was for ages the scene of much smuggling, with deep and winding inlets leading directly to the feet of highland tracks, and perfect for concealment. The famous smuggler Captain George O'Malley, himself the son of a smuggler, was born in 1786 near Ballynakill in the remote north-western corner of Connemara. So lucrative was the smuggling trade that when roads were finally built into the region from Galway, opening it up to commerce but also to the forces of the law, they were blamed for the economic decline of the area (Ciaran Carson, Last Night's Fun). County Sligo-born fiddler James Morrison recorded it in the 78 RPM era as "Galway Reel (1)" [Okeh 21009]. See also P.W. Joyce's "Typrid Lasses," a close variant. The first strain of "Colonel McBain's" is cognate with the second strain of "Connemara Stockings." The reel is not musically related to the similarly-titled "Old Connemara Stockings."
