Annotation:Lady of the Lake (1)
LADY OF THE LAKE [1] (Bean Uasal an Loca). AKA and see "Billy the Barber (Shaved His Father)," "Will you lie over close to the wall." Scottish, English, Irish, American; Single Jig (6/8 time). England, Northumberland. USA, New England. G Major (most versions): A Major (Kerr). Standard tuning (fiddle). ABB' (Kerr): (Shields/Goodman): AABB' (Hall & Stafford, Kennedy, Raven). The tune has received wide-spread dissemination. The title (and tune) is at least as old as Church of Ireland cleric James Goodman's mid-19th century music manuscripts. Goodman (1828-1896) was an uilleann piper, and an Irish speaker who collected locally in County Cork and elsewhere in Munster. He also obtained tunes from manuscripts and printed collections. The melody and title appear in English and Scottish publications later in the 19th century, and (as "Billy the Barber") in Boston publisher Elias Howe's c. 1867 1000 Jigs and Reels. There is a country dance also called Lady of the Lake, but this tune was not associated with it in New England in the early 20th century (see other versions of "Lady of the Lake"). In fact, there are several unrelated tunes that have been called "Lady of the Lake," a situation which stems from association with the very popular country dance of the same name. The title is also associated with the popular romantic narrative poem "Lady of the Lake" (1810) by Sir Walter Scott.
