Annotation:Alasdair MacAlister

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ALASDAIR MACALISTER. AKA - "Alistair/Allister/Alister MacAlastair/McAlister/Mac Alasdair." AKA and see "Little Katie Kearney." Scottish, Strathspey. A Minor (Kerr, Plain Brown, Skye): G Minor (Cole, White). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Cole, Plain Brown, White): AAB (Athole, Skye): AABB (Hardings). A popular melody throughout Britain, Ireland and North America, in a variety of settings. A version of the tune is played in Ireland as a polka under the names "Denis Doody's (2)," "Glin Cottage Polka (1) (The)," "Glen Cottage Polka (2) (The)," "Green Cottage (2) (The)," "McAllister's Fling," "St. Patrick Was a Gentleman (2)" and "St. Patrick Was Your Patron Saint." The Irish reel "Monaghan Twig (1)" is also a cognate tune.

Source for notated version: a c. 1847 music manuscript by Ellis Knowles, a musician from Radcliffe, Lancashire, England [Plain Brown].

Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 126. Hardings All-Round Collection, 1905; No. 165, pp. 52-53. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 2; No. 53, p. 9. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 119. Doyle (Plain Brown Tune Book), 1997; p. 43 (appears as "Allister McAllister"). Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 165. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 45. White's Unique Collection, 1896; No. 169, p. 31.

Recorded sources: OKEH 4840 (78 RPM), Patrick Gaffney (1923, as "McAllister Fling").

See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]