Annotation:Ladus (The)
X:1 T:Ladus, The M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel S:Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G dc | BGGB d2 cB | ADDE FGAc | BGGB d2cB | cdef g2 dc | BGGB d2 cB | ADDE FGAc | BGGB d2cB | cdef g2dc :| |: G2 gf edcB | Aaag fedc | Bdgf edcB | cdef g2g2 | G2gf edcB | ADDE F2GA | BGGB cAAg | fdef g2g2 :|]
LADUS, THE. AKA and see "Ladies of Leinster (The)," "Prohibition (The)." Irish, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The curious title "The Ladus" is probably a corruption of "The Ladies", which may have itself been a shortening of the title "The Ladies of Leinster", as the tune is given in Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903). Under the title "The Prohibition" it was recorded (as the first tune in a medley, paired with "Contradiction Reel (The)") in New York in 1922 by the fiddle duet of Michael Coleman and Tom Gannon, friends originally from County Sligo. Researcher Conor Ward finds a somewhat distanced version of "The Ladus" in the 1846-1850 Leonard-Kernan music manuscript collection of Abbeyshrule, County Longford, under the title "Miss Derby's Reel."
See also "Colonel (1)" in Kerr's Merry Melodies (c. 1880's), "a close relative" notes Fr. John Quinn. Ward & Quinn also find an untitled reel in the Stephen Grier manuscript (County Leitrim, 1882) is a cognate tune, albeit set in the key of 'A' major.