Annotation:Red Haired Lass

Back to Red Haired Lass

X:1 T:Red-Haired Lass, The R:reel Z:From Josephine Marsh at Kilfenora 1996. Z: Transcribed by Thom Pratt M:4/4 L:1/8 K:G DGGF ~G2 BG|GABG ~AGEG|DGGF GABd|egdB AGEG| DGGF ~G2 BG|GABG ~AGEG|DGGF GABd|egdB ~c2Bc|| ~d2 gd edgd|degd BGBc|~d2 gd edef|gedB ~c2 Bc| ~d2 gd edgd|degd BGBd|~c2 cA ~B2 BA|GA (3Bcd gedB||

RED-HAIRED LASS. AKA and see "Crusheen (The)," "Jim Seery's," "Kildoney Lasses (The),” "Old Pigeon on the Gate," “Peter Kennedy's Fancy,” "Shearing the Sheep (1).” Irish, Reel. Ireland, County Sligo, west Kerry. G Major (Cranitch, Flaherty, Moylan, Mulvihill, Taylor): A Major (Cranitch). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Cranitch, Flaherty, Moylan, Taylor): AA’BB (Mulvihill). A popular session reel, correctly classified as a single reel. Taylor (1992) notes that the tune on page 105 of Bernard Flaherty's Trip to Sligo (1990) is very closely related to "Red-Haired Lass," though "nonetheless incompatible." It is a classic tune recorded during the 78 RPM era by the master Sligo fiddler James Morrison with Leitrim flute player John McKenna (who paired it with another single reel they called "Tailor's Thimble (2) (The)”). The rather obscure fiddler Joseph Tansey of Gurteen, County Sligo, also recorded the tune in the 78 RPM era, calling it "Crusheen (The)" (Crusheen is the name of a village in County Clare, but the title could also be a Anglicized version of the Irish crúiscín, meaning 'jug').

Additional notes

Sources for notated versions: - fiddler Fred Finn, 1919-1986 (Kiltycreen, Kilavil, County Sligo) [Flaherty]; accordion player Johnny O’Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border) [Moylan]; Brendan Mulvihill (Baltimore, Md) [Mulvihill].

Printed sources : - Cranitch (Irish Fiddle Book), 1996; pp. 112 & 113. Flaherty (Trip to Sligo), 1990; p. 79. Moylan (Johnny O’Leary of Sliabh Luachra), 1994; No. 314, p. 180. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 233, p. 63. Taylor (Through the Half-Door), 1992; No. 11, p. 9.

Recorded sources: -Clo Iar Chonnachta CICD 165, John Wynne & John McEvoy – “Pride of the West” (2007). Columbia ‎33393-F (78 RPM), James Morrison & John McKenna (1929). Green Linnet SIF 1075, John Whelan & Eileen Ivers - "Fresh Takes" (1987). Shaskeen - "Joys of Life" & "Shaskeen Live." Chieftains – “Water from the Well.”

See also listings at:
Alan Snyder’s Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Alan Ng’s Irishtune.info [3]

Back to Red Haired Lass