Annotation:Paddy on the Railroad
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PADDY ON THE RAILROAD. AKA and see "Boys of the Lake (2)," "Collin's Reel (1)," "Corkonian," “Devil in Dublin (1) (The),” "Emminence Breakdown," "Ike Forrester's Reel (1)," "Merry Blacksmith," “Mist on the Loch,” "Peeler's Jacket (1)," "Police Jacket (The)," "Peeler's Reel/Policeman's Reel," “Policeman’s Cap,” "Railroad (2) (The)," "Shepherd in the Gap (The)." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (most versions). An Irish reel, but an American title, doubtless inspired by the numbers of Irish laborers who made up a large part of the workforce in the building of America's railway system in the 19th century.
Source for notated version: Alan Block (N.H.) [Phillips]; accordion player Johnny O’Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border), recorded at Na Píobairí Uilleann, October, 1984 (O’Leary associates the tune with Charlie Mulvihill) [Moylan]; Sande Gillette [Silberberg].
Printed sources: Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; p. 213. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 25. Moylan (Johnny O’Leary of Sliabh Luachra), 1994; No. 144, p. 84. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 179. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes); No. or p. 28. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 2), c. 1880's; No. 293, p. 32. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddlers' Repertoire), 1983; No. 77. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 51. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 114.
Recorded sources: Biograph 6007, Ebenezer "Tell It to Me."