BLUE BIRD REEL [1]. American, Reel (2/4 time). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. This tune was among the two pages deleted from Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) when it metamorphosed sixty years later into Cole's 1000 Fiddle Tunes in 1940. "Blue Bird" was one of several tunes attributed (correctly or not) to "J. Hand" by William Bradbury Ryan in his 1883 volume. This refers to James (Jimmy) or perhaps a John(ny) Hand, who were evidently noted New England fiddlers and performers. 'J. Hand' is elsewhere in the volume identified as "the Boss Jig Player."
Additional notes
Printed sources : - Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 49. The Devil's Box, vol. 21, No. 4, Winter 1987; p. 48.
