Annotation:Ashplant (1) (The)
X:1 T:Ashplant [1], The R:reel D:Noel Hill & Tony McMahon: \'I gCnoc na Gra\'I M:C| L:1/8 Z:id:hn-reel-285 Z:transcribed by henrik.norbeck@mailbox.swipnet.se K:Edor BE~E2 BAGA|BE~E2 ~G3A|BE~E2 BABd|gedB A2GA| BE~E2 BAGA|BE~E2 ~G3A|~B3A (3Bcd ef|gedB A2GA|| B2eB fBeB|~B2ed BAGA|B2eB ~f3d|efdB A2GA| B2eB fBeB|~B2ed BAGA|(3Bcd ef ~g3a|gedB A2GA||
ASHPLANT [1]. AKA and see "Maide Fuinnseoige (An)." Irish, Reel. E Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Breathnach, Flaherty, McNulty): AABB (Carlin, Miller & Perron). An ashplant was the name for a common implement among farmers and drovers of cattle in Ireland, made from a sapling of an ash tree. The root ball would be trimmed to a knob which fit easily in the hand, and the length trimmed into a switch. It would be applied to the hide of the buttocks of an animal as a means of motivating and steering them. The implement has been known to be employed in brawls on fair days, grasped at the opposite end with the knob then the business end! County Cavan/Philadelphia fiddler Ed Reavy said the ash plant "made a good stick and a good tune, too."
See also the related "Tom Dowd's Favorite."