Annotation:Blackwater Polka (1)

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BLACKWATER (POLKA) [1]. Irish, Polka. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. The English name Blackwater is the exact equivalent of the Celtic Douglas. Numerous streams and rivers have been named 'blackwater' throughout England, Ireland and Scotland. In this case the title refers to the Blackwater River that divides Counties Cork and Kerry in southern Ireland, and which has its origins in the Sliabh Luachra region. Dónal Hickey (Stone Mad for Music, 1999) describes a local postman, the late Timmy Curney O'Sullivan, of Ballydesmond in the Sliabh Luachra region of County Kerry and Cork. O'Sullivan was known to sing and spin yarns in local pubs and, inspired by the river, would recite:

It rushes forth with its incarnation,
Through rocky cascades it rushes down
And ceases not its agitation
'Till it reaches King Williamstown

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Taylor (Where's the Crack?), 1989; p. 28.

Recorded sources:

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