Annotation:Banks of the Ilen (The)
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BANKS OF THE ILEN, THE. AKA and see "Midnight Maid (The)" "Queens County Lasses (The)," "Seanbhean na gCártaí," and "Six Mile Bridge." Irish, Reel or Hornpipe. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. O'Neill prints the tune (named for the river in Co. Cork that passes by Skibbereen) as a hornpipe, though it is most often heard now-a-days as a reel. It is known in the Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork/Kerry border as "Seanbhean na gCartaí" or "Tom Billy's." Rendered as a double jig, the tune appears under the title "Humors of Drinagh (1) (The)." Peter Kennedy sees relatedness with his "Humors of Six Mile Bridge." Versions of the reel appear in the large mid-19th century music manuscript collection of County Cork cleric and uilleann piper Canon biography:James Goodman under the titles “Midnight Maid (The)” and "Queens County Lasses (The)."
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), 1994; 15. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 334, p. 165. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 90 (reel). O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1592, p. 295 (hornpipe). O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 837, p. 144. Kerr's First Collection of Merry Melodies for the Violin, n.d., No. 15 in section of "Irish Reels for Quadrilles and Country Dances," p. 35 (as "Six Mile Bridge").
Recorded sources: Paddy Taylor - "The Boy in the Gap" (reel version). Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford - "The Star Above the Garter." Shanachie 79044, Tommy Peoples - "The Iron Man."