Annotation:Galway Belles
X:1
T:Galway Belles
M:2/4
L:1/8
R:Polka
K:Emin
"Em"E>F GA|Be B>B|"D"A>F DF|"Bm"EF D/E/D|"Em"E>F GA|Be B>B|"D"AF DF|"Em"E2E2:||
"Em"ee B>B|ee B>B|"D"A>F DF|"Bm"EF ED|"Em"ee B>B|ee B>B|"D"AF DF|"Em"GE E2|
"Em"ee B>B|ee B>B|A>F DF|"D"EF ED|"Em"E>F GA|Be B>B|"D"AF DF|"Em"E2 E2||
GALWAY BELLES. AKA - "Galway Belle (The). AKA and see "Cuz's Polka," "Galway Rogue," "Kerry Polka (2)," "69th Street Polka." Irish, Polka. E Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'B (Harker/Rafferty): AABB' (Miler & Perron). A Sliabh Luachra, County Kerry, polka. Boston, Mass., button accordion player Jerry O'Brien called the polka "Galway Belle," and may have obtained the tune from County Kerry fiddler Paddy Cronin, when he was resident in that city[1]. There are several tunes sourced to Cronin in his 1952 collection. The alternate title "Cuz's Polka" references concertina and button accordion player Terence "Cuz" Teahan (1905-1989, of Glountane, south County Kerry and Chicago. The "69th Street Polka" title comes from Lesl Harker (Rafferty, 2005). The Scottish tune "Campbell's Farewell to Redcastle" has a similar melodic contour and theme coding, albeit in the major mode.
