Annotation:Slaney Bog (The)

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X:1 T:The Slaney Bog M:2/2 L:1/8 C:Ed Reavy S:The Collected Compositions of Ed Reavy R:Reel N:The Slaney Bog. This tune became an instant favorite with "the N:New York fellows" back in the forties. Z:Joseph Reavy K:D ||:[F3A3] G FGAB|=cAFA G2 FG|(3AB=c AG FGAg|fdec dfec| AGAG FGAB|=cAFA G2 FG|(3AB=c AG FGAg|fdec Adde|| f2 gf gfed|cAAB cdeg | fdfa g2 fg | (3agf (3gfe fddf |(3agf (3gfe fdec | dfed cAGE | Dddc defg |1 (3agf (3gfed fec:|2 (agf gfe d4||

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SLANEY BOG, THE. Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. Composed by County Cavan/Philadelphia fiddler Ed Reavy (1898-1988). According to his son Joe, the tune gained currency with New York Irish musicians in the 1940's. Interviewed by musician and folklorist Mick Moloney in 1975, Reavy explained:

Well of course in certain parts of Cavan they had nothing but what they call slane turf or slane peat as they would say in this country (U.S.)…they call in peat out here. A man used to rent a portion of these slane bogs you know for turf and he would get a bunch of men to go there on certain days for to cut the slane turf. They used to do it with a straight spade that had straight iron on the end of it you know that I used to watch they cutting slane and they used to watch them cutting slane and they used to be telling Irish stories and joking and one thing and another…I used to be amazed at that you know…and that’s why I called it Slaney Bog.

The first part of this tune is quite similar to that of Micho Russell's Fairhaired Boy (2) (The) and related reels.