Annotation:Miller of Glanmire (The)

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MILLER OF GLANMIRE, THE (An Muilleoir Ua Gleann-Magair). AKA - "Miller of Glenmire (The)." AKA and see "John Conroy's," "Lay Her Down Easy," "Lilting Banshee (The)," "Ryan's Favorite," "Sligo Jig (The)." Irish, Double Jig. A Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Glanmire [1] is a village in County Cork, Ireland, about five miles from the city of Cork.

O'Neill had the tune from a seventeen year old fiddler named George West, who, although gifted musically, was somewhat indigent and did not own a fiddle. He had formed a symbiotic musical relationship of sorts with one O'Malley, who did own a fiddle and who eked out a meager living playing house parties despite the loss of a finger from his left hand. O'Malley, however, invariable could only make it to midnight before he got too drunk to bow, at which time West took over his fiddle and finished the night's engagement. "Thus lived the careless, improvident but talented Georgie, until an incident in his life rendered a trip to the far west advisable." [O'Neill, Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby (1910, pp. 41-42)]. See also the related tunes "Killaloe Boat (The)" and "Ballinasloe Jig/Ballinasloe Fair (2)."

The tune appears in the American music manuscript collection of the Dunn family [2] [3]. A note at the site says: "The origins of the musical manuscripts are difficult to determine. Most appear to have been bound together from various sources, and although some of the notation may be from Francis O'Neill's hand, it is likely the majority is from Michael J. Dunn or his son, Michael J. Dunn, Jr. Since Dunn received materials from James Early, it is also possible some of the work could be Early's." The manuscript tune is identical to that printed in the O'Neill volumes, save that the 'G' note in the next-to-last measure in each strain is sharped in the MS.

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - "G. West" [O'Neill].

Printed sources : - O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 765, p. 143. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 48, p. 24.

See also listing at :
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [4]
See/hear the Smyth family play the tune on youtube.com [5]
See the tune in the Dunn Family manuscript collection [6]

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