Annotation:Fisherman's Widow (The)
Tune properties and standard notation
FISHERMAN'S WIDOW, THE (Baintreabac An Iasgaire). AKA and see "Baxter's Big," "Friendly Neighbor (The)," "Rambling Pitchfork (The)," "St. Patricks Day in the Evening." Irish, Double Jig. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Mulvihill, O'Neill/Krassen & 1915): AABB' (O'Neill/1850 & 1001, Plain Brown). The tune usually goes by the title "Rambling Pitchfork" today.
Source for notated version: Francis O'Neill learned the tune from an accomplished West Clare flute player (and Chicago police patrolman) named Patrick "Big Pat" O'Mahony, a man of prodigious physique of whom he said: "the 'swing' of his execution was perfect, but instead of 'beating time' with his foot on the floor like most musicians he was never so much at ease as when seated in a chair tilted back against a wall, while both feet swung rhythmically like a double pendulum" [O'Neill, Irish Folk Music]; a tape of the Birmingham grandfather of editor Tony Doyle, c. late 1960's, playing the melodeon [Plain Brown].
Printed sources: Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 7, p. 66. O'Neill (O'Neill's Irish Music), 1915; No. 179, p. 98. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 43. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 931, p. 173. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 163, p. 41. Plain Brown Tune Book, 1997; p. 25.
Recorded sources: