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is a reel that, while not a member of a large tune family, is nontheless important in several traditions, largely on the merits of its strong, flowing and well-crafted melody.

It has a few names, but essentially they are the same tune, showing little of the variety and musical distance between versions that sometimes develops when tunes weave in and out of various traditions.

It can be found in North American tradition as "Bennett's Favorite" and "The Great Eastern," in Irish tradition as "John Brennan's Reel" and especially "The Silver Spire," and in Québecois tradition as one of the "La Grondeuse" tunes.

It has a long recording history, beginning with the duet of Paddy Killoran and Paddy Sweeney in the 1930's and continuing today with versions by Sharon Shannon, Tommy Peoples, John and Phil Cunningham, Natalie MacMaster and the groups Wild Asparagus and La Bottine Souriante, to name a few.

In Québec the title "Grondeuse (1) (La)"-'the grumbling woman'-is the title of many tunes, each fiddler seeming to have his or her own versions based on a variety of melodies in the key of 'D'.

What they have in common is that the 'G' string is tuned up to 'A' (ADae, or 'raised bass' tuning), producing ringing overtones and lending itself to dense droned bowing on the low parts.

"La Grondeuse" is universally played in the Québec fiddle tradition and it is often employed as a vehicle for step-dancing. One "La Grondeuse" strain is the "Great Eastern"/"Silver Spire" melody and has made the contra dance rounds for many years, beginning with New Hampshire fiddler and caller Dudley Laufman.

...more at: The Great Eastern Reel - full Score(s) and Annotations

X:0 T:Great Eastern Reel [1], The M:C L:1/8 S:Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D V:1 clef=treble name="0." [V:1] D2 (F>E) D>F A2|{dc}d>c(d>e) fcA(F|G)BE>G F>AD>F|G>(E {F}ED) C>E A,>C| D2 F>E D>F A>d|(3edc d>e f>dA>F|GBE>G F>AD>F|1 E2A,2D3A,:|2 E2A,2 D4|| |:A,>B,C>D E>FG>E|(3FED E>F G>AB>c|dcd>A Bc d>e|f>a (3baf e2 (3ABc| d2 fd cdec|dcd>B A>FD>F|GBE>G F>AD>F|1 E2A,2D2^G,2:|2 E2A,2 D2A,2||