Annotation:Bonny Lass of Fisherrow (The)
X:1 T:Bonny Lass of Fisherrow M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel B: Daniel Dow – Twenty Minuets and Sixteen Reels or Country Dances (c. 1775, p. 22) % B: https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/106036281 Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:C GEcG AcGE|CEGE D/D/D A2|GEGc AFAc|BdGB c/c/c c2:| ecgc egca|gcec defa|gceg fadf|egde c/c/c c2| ecgc egca|gcec defd|cAFc BdGf|egde c/c/c c2||
BONNY LASS OF FISHERROW/FISHIRRON, THE. AKA and see "Cait Bhoidheach," "Bonnie Kate (1)/Bonny Kate," "Boys of Limerick (The)." Scottish (originally), English, Canadian; Reel. England, Northumberland. Canada; Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Kerr): AAB (Athole, Gow): AABB' (Phillips): AA'BB' (Cranford). Composed by Edinburgh composer and music teacher Daniel Dow (1732–1783), most famous as the composer of "Monymusk." Glen finds the tune first published in Daniel Dow's c. 1773 or 1775 (p. 2 or 22, dates vary) and Neil Stewart's 1761 (p. 65) collections. In the opinion of Mr. Troup of Ballater (as cited by David Baptie in Musical Scotland, Past and Present, 1894, p. 46) "Bonny Lass of Fisherrow" is among the dozen or so of Dow's best compositions. It was printed by in London by the Thompsons in their Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5 (p. 21) of 1788, which version was reprinted by Brendan Breathnach in his Ceol Rince na hÉirreann, vol. 1, No. 174 (1963).
The tune's title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes, which he published c. 1800, and the melody was included in the large 1840 music manuscript collection of multi-instrumentalist John Rook of Waverley, near Wigton, Cumbria. The reel's most popular derivative or descendent is the Irish reel Bonnie Kate (1) <div class="mw-ext-score" data-midi="/w/images/lilypond/4/6/46pl9l72l9mxu0wy3h1l2tzf380k9d0/46pl9l72.midi"><img src="/w/images/lilypond/4/6/46pl9l72l9mxu0wy3h1l2tzf380k9d0/46pl9l72.png" width="697" height="52" alt="
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dB|AFdB ABAF|DFAF E2 EB|AFAd cde/f/d|cABc dcdB|
"/></div> in circulation from at least the mid-19th century, but popularized by south County Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman in his famous and much imitated 1934 recording. Irish versions are set in the key of D Major. On Prince Edward Island the tune is often played in a medley between "Rothiemurchus Rant" and "Bird's Nest. Montreal fiddler Isidore Soucy (1899-1963) recorded an irregular version in 1930 as Quadrille des Laurentides 6ème partie <div class="mw-ext-score" data-midi="/w/images/lilypond/n/a/na7ovuuhlwqoym4urpngx5xjcaimzin/na7ovuuh.midi"><img src="/w/images/lilypond/n/a/na7ovuuhlwqoym4urpngx5xjcaimzin/na7ovuuh.png" width="658" height="54" alt="
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