Annotation:Knit the Pocky

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KNIT THE POCKY. AKA and see "Lady Macintoshe's Reel (2)." Scottish, Reel; Canada, Strathspey. Canada, Cape Breton. D Minor (Glen): D Dorian (Bremner). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection, although another early version appears in Angus Cumming's collection set as a four-part strathspey called "Lady McIntosh's Reel." 'Pocky' commonly refers to a bag (esp. a beggar's bag for collecting meal), a hat or a hood, and has been used to mean a fishing net. According to Chamber's Scots Dictionary, knit was sometimes used to mean 'overfill' or 'burst', thus the title may mean 'burst the bag'. Paul Cranford notes that a more ornate strathspey version was played by early 20th century Cape Breton fiddlers.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Bremner (Scots Reels), c. 1757; p. 84. Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Dance Music), vol. 1, 1891; p. 20.

Recorded sources: Rounder Records 7037-2, Father Angus Morris - "Traditional Fiddle Music of Cape Breton, vol. 1: Mabou Coal Mines" (2002).

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]

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