Annotation:Bobbing for Eels
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BOBBING FOR EELS. AKA and see "Bottle of Punch (The)," "Bowl of Punch (The)," "Butchers of Bristol (1) (The)," "Dairymaid (6) (The)," "Fishing for Eels," "Glens of Mayo (The)," "Groom," "Humours of Milltown (2) (The)," "Ioc an Reicneail," "Jackson's Bottle of Brandy," "Jackson's Jug of Punch," "Jackson's Jug of Brandy," "Jug of Punch (5) (The)," "Old Man's Jig (The)," "Pay the Reckoning." Irish, Jig. A Major (Cole, Ryan): G Major (Miller). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Credited, impropbably, to one C. Knowlton in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, although the tune can be found in older collections. Olive Sharkey, in her book Old Days Old Ways (O'Brien Press, 1985, p. 170), talks about fishing in Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and explains:
Eels were caught illegally with longlines, but a more usual practice was to bait them with balls of worms, a practice called 'bobbing'.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 76. Miller (Fiddler's Throne), 2004; No. 10, p. 19. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 107.
Recorded sources: