Annotation:Macdougall's Polka
MACDOUGALLS (POLKA), THE. AKA and see "Westville Polka." Canadian, Polka. A Major ('A' part) & E Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A well-traveled polka melody that appears in a variety of genres, however,it was composed by John Willie MacDougall of Westville (near Antigonish), Nova Scotia. MacDougall was a coal miner who was almost blinded in a mine explosion, but became a champion fiddler of Nova Scotia, He died in the mid 1950's at the age of 96, although some say he was older.
The tune was played by fiddler Ben Guillemette (Sanford, Maine) in John Bishop's movie "New England Fiddles" (1984), and it was in the repertoire of Pennsylvania fiddler Jehile Kirkhuff, who called it "Westville Polka." The tune was also recorded as "Westville Polka" by Canadian pianist Waldo Monroe.
