Annotation:Milestone in the Garden (The)

Back to Milestone in the Garden (The)

MILESTONE IN THE GARDEN, THE. AKA and see "Humors of Westport (The)," "Pretty Peggy (5)." Irish, Reel. F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The reel was popularized by fiddler James Morrison [1] who recorded it in New York in January, 1935 (paired with "Miss Langford's Reel"). Morrison was born near the town of Collooney in south County Sligo, Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in 1918. Morrison's version is named for an actual milestone located near Riverstown, Ireland, and today there is a roadside marker denoting the spot.

It is also known as "Humors of Westport (The)," published by O'Neill under that title. See also O'Neill's "Bill Clancy's Delight" and the related tune "Pretty Peggy (5)." The melody may be derived from a Scottish reel "Clydesdale Lasses."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Ceol, 1963 (Breathnach's article "The Man and His Music," on Sonny Brogan).

Recorded sources: Columbia 33538-F (78 RPM), James Morrison (1935). Rounder Records CD1123, James Morrison - "The Milestone at the Garden" (1996). Yazoo ‎7008, James Morrison - "Wheels Of The World Volume 1: Early Irish-American Music" (1997).

See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [3]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [4]
Hear Morrison's 1935 recording at the Comhaltas Archive [5]