Annotation:Donegal Traveler (The)
Tune properties and standard notation
DONEGAL TRAVELLER REEL. AKA and see "Boreen Reel," "Drunken Tinker," "Gillespie's." Irish, Reel. D Major (Carlin): C Major (Mulvihill). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Sometimes also played in A Major. The tune was recorded on a 78 RPM disc by Hugh Gillespie, a Donegal fiddler much influenced by Michael Coleman. Finbar Dwyer recorded the melody as "Gillespie's" in his honor. The name Donegal is Gaelic for 'castle of the strangers.'
Source for notated version: Liam Donnelly [Mulvihill].
Printed sources: Black (Music's the Very Best Thing), 1996; No. 60, p. 31. Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; p. 127, No. 216. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 158, p. 43.
Recorded sources: Green Linnett GLCD 1119, Cherish the Ladies - "The Back Door" (1992. Learned from Joe Madden).