Annotation:Miss Langford
X:1 T:Miss Langford M:4/4 L:1/8 R:Reel K:D A2dB AFFA|B2AF GFDE|FFDF A2FA|Bdeg fdd2:|| fgaf gfef|gefd eAA2|fgaf g2fg|afge fdd2| fgaf gfef|gefd eAA2|BABd cBce|d2eg fdd2||
MISS LANGFORD (Inion Langfort). AKA and see "James Morrison's," "Lady Mary Montague," “Lass of Carracastle," "Lass of Carrowcastle (1) (The)," "Morrison's Reel (3)." Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Cranitch): AA'B (Breathnach). Popularized by south County Sligo fiddler James Morrison (1891-1947), who recorded the tune in New York in January, 1935 (paired with "Milestone in the Garden (The)"). Morrison, who also played the tin whistle, accordion and banjo, was nicknamed “The Professor” for his teaching and his formal musical skills.
The alternate title “Lass of Carracastle” comes from Morrison’s contemporary, another Sligo fiddler by the name of Paddy Sweeney, who had recorded the tune a year prior to Morrison, again in New York. The tune is sometimes attributed to Sweeney but is clearly derived from the Scots reel "Lady Mary Montague." There is a related, untitled, reel in Breathnach’s CRÉ 5 (1999, No. 201, p. 96). The "Morrison's" title is the name of the tune on De Danann's 1978 "Star Spangled Molly" album.
A possible candidate to have been Morrison's "Miss Langford" is Mary Langford, a young dancer who appeared with her teacher Sean Murphy and another Murphy student, Eileen Kenny, at a show produced by James Hayden's WARD radio program at Brady's Cabaret and Ballroom in Woodside, Queens (Irish Advocate, December 30, 1933).
