Annotation:King of the Pipers (1)
X:1 T:King of the Pipers [1] M:6/8 L:1/8 K:Dmix A (3A/A/A/ D B (3B/B/B/ D|ABG FED|A (3A/A/A/ D BAF|GAG FED| A (3A/A/A/ D B (3B/B/B/ D|ABG FED|CEG cGE |GAG FED:| |: fga afd|ded {c/d/}cAG | ~F2D (3c/B/A/ GF |GAG FED| fga afa | geg fdA|GFG (3c/B/A/ GF|GAG FED :| |: def def | def dFA |def dAF|GEF GFE| ~d3 ^cdc|B^cB AFD|CEG cGE|GAG FED:| |:d (3D/D/D/ D c (3D/D/D/ D|B (3D/D/D/ D A (3D/D/D/ D| d (3D/D/D/ D cAF|GAG FED| d (3D/D/D/ D c (3D/D/D/ D|B (3D/D/D/ D AFD|CEG cGE|GAG FED:|]
KING OF THE PIPERS [1] ("Rig na Piobairide" or "Rí na bPíobairí"). AKA and see "Farting Badger (The)," "Kilraine Jig (The)," "McSweeney's Jig." Irish, Double Jig. D Major/Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABCC' (Breathnach): AABBCCDD (Alewine, Brody, Carlin, Feldman & O'Doherty/Doherty): AABBCCDDE (O'Neill): AABBCCDDEE (Taylor): AABBCCDDEEFF (Feldman & O'Doherty/Byrne). There are a number of versions of this popular jig, with parts (varation sets) often in different order. Francis O'Neill (Irish Folk Music) says that the multi-part tune "created a sensation" when introduced to Chicago traditional musicians and dancers ("who had never heard" it before) by the elderly fiddler Edward Cronin, originally from Limerick Junction, County Tipperary (born in the early 1840's). O'Neill thought it "quite probable" that the melody had originally been a clan march. "King of the Pipers" is a common tune in County Donegal, where two different versions are played (see also "King of the Pipers (2)). Seán Keane was of the opinion the melody had a Donegal provenance and said it was associated with the Order of the Knights of St. Patrick. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh (1994) states that the tunes "clearly have piping origins" and remarks on the melody/drone rendition of the piece by Teelin, Donegal, fiddlers Francie Dearg Byrne and Mickey Ban Byrne--a style imitative of the pipes. Feldman & O'Doherty (1979) believe the brothers probably obtained their version from piper Mickey Gallagher, a traveling cousin of famous Donegal fiddler John Doherty's. Alternate titles from the north are "Kilraine Jig (The)," named after a townland outside Glenties in the central mountain district of County Donegal, "McSweeney's Jig," named for the famous Donegal uilleann piper and fiddler Tarlach McSweeney, and "Farting Badger (The)." Caoimhin Mac Aoidh maintains that the "King of the Pipers" title references McSweeney, although because of McSweeney's fame a number of tunes he played were simply titled "King of the Pipers." "Farting Badger (The)" title, Mac Aoidh indicates, was specific to the Teelin region of County Donegal (which he says had an abundance of good fiddlers in the 1920-30s).
