BLIND NORA O'NEILL. AKA and see "Blind Norry's," "Highland Plaid (3) (The)," "Lady Lomon's," "Lady Loudon." Scottish, Reel and/or Strathspey. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Cole): AA'B (Cranford). The melody was originally composed as "Lady Loudon," by William Gow (1751-1791), eldest son of Scots fiddler-composer Niel Gow, and the leader of the Edinburgh Assembly Orchestra until his death at age 40. It is a frequently recorded tune by Cape Breton fiddlers, played as both a reel and strathspey, albeit mostly under the "Blind Nora" (or variants) title, indicating that it came to the island via the popular Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883), disseminated by sight-reading fiddlers. Breandan Breathnach/Jackie Small (CRE V) believe the Irish "Donegal Traveler (The)" (Donegal Rambler) is related to this tune.
Additional notes
Printed sources : - Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 11 (appears as "Blind Norry's"). Cranford (Jerry Holland's Collection), 1995; No. 71, p. 21. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1885 (appears as "Blind Nora").
Recorded sources : - Rounder 7004, Joe Cormier - "The Dances Down Home" (1977). WMT002, Wendy MacIsaac - "That's What You Get" (1998?).
See also listing at : Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]
