Annotation:Curragh Races (1)
X:1 T:Untitled T:Curragh Races (The), T:Maid in the Cherry Tree (The), M:C L:1/8 R:Reel B:Stephen Grier music manuscript collection (Book 2, c. 1883, No. 277, p. 58) B: http://grier.itma.ie/book-two#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=57&z=-1106.7058%2C291.0187%2C4831.1781%2C1957.7546 N:Stephen Grier (c. 1824-1894) was a piper and fiddler from N:Newpark, Bohey, Gortletteragh, south Co. Leitrim. Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Amin eAcA eAcA|G2 BG dGBG|eAcA eAcA|dBGA BA A2| eAcA eAcA|G2 BG dGBG|c2 cA B2 Bc|dBGA BAAB|| c2 ec gceB|c2 ec dBGB|c2 ec gcec|dBGA BAAB| c2 ec gceB|c2 ec dBGB|c2 cA B2 Bc|dBGA BA A2||
X:2
T:Curragh Races [1], The
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Reel
S:O'Neill - Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 544
Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion
K:Amin
a|e2 (3cBA eA (3cBA|G2 Bc dBGg|eA (3cBA e^fge|dBGB cAAa|
eA (3cBA eA (3cBA|G2 Bc dBGB|cBcA B2 ge|dBGB cA A||
B|(3cdc ec gcec|(3cdc ge dBGB|(3cdc ec gcec|dBGB {d}cAAB|
(3cdc ec gcef|(3gag ge dBGB|cBcA B2 ge|dBGB cA A||
CURRAGH RACES [1], THE ("Coimleanga'n Curraig," "Rásaí an Churraigh" or "Reata an Curaig"). AKA and see "Bearrchaile sa gCrann Silini (An)," "Coleman's Fancy," "Hare in the Corn (7)," "Humors of Old Knockaney (The)," "London Lasses (2), "Maid in the Cherry Tree (3) (The)," "Mick Flaherty's." Irish, Reel. A Dorian (most versions): E Minor (O'Neill/Waifs and Strays): G Minor (Breathnach/CRÉ I): G Dorian (CRÉ V). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Mulvivhill, O'Neill): AABB (Breathnach/CRÉ V): AA'BB (Mitchell). Curragh, Kildare, is the home of Irish horse racing. The track is owned and administered by the Turf Club, the Irish racing authority. The name stems from the Irish Gaelic word cuireach, meaning 'place of the running horses' or 'race course', and horse races (in the form of chariot races) were said to have been held at Curragh since the 3rd century A.D. Match races were common at the site in the subsequent centuries. One such event at the Curragh, in 1634, records that the Earl of Ormond's horse beat Lord Digby's horse over a four mile course. The was even a full-time Ranger appointed for the Curragh, Simon Allen, from 1687-1688. Modern horse racing at the site dates from 1741 when a racecourse was laid out. A Society of the Sportsmen of the Curragh, formed in 1750, was the basis for the later Turf Club.
Editor Jackie Small (CRÉ V) says the tune is "related to 'O'Dowd's Favourtie,' in Michael Coleman's version." Fr. John Quinn and Conor Ward find a version as an untitled reel in Book 2 (No. 277) of the large c. 1883 music manuscript collection of County Leitrim fiddler and piper biography:Stephen Grier (c. 1824-1894). See also the Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) variant "London Lasses (2)," and the related Scottish tune "Highland Man that Kissed His Grannie (1)." "Mick Flaherty's" is a version in the key of E Dorian.
