Annotation:Molly St. George
X:1 T:Molly St. George S:J. & W. Neal, 'A Collection of the Most Celebrated Irish Tunes' N:Dublin, c 1724 Q:1/4=80 L:1/4 M:3/4 K:G (d/4e/4f/)|gfe|d(e/d/)(c/B/)|cBA3/4G/4|E2B/d/|e(g/e/)(d/B/)| AB/4c/4d/ D|E(G/4A/4B/) A/G/|G2::(D/E/)|G/A/B (A/4B/4c/)| B(c/B/)(A/G/)|(c/B/c/d/) e/f/|g2e/g/|ab/a/g/e/|de/d/c/B/| cd/c/B/c/|A2(B/A/4B/4)|c/B/c/d/ e/f/|g2(f/e/)|(d/g/)(d/B/)(A/G/)| E2B/d/|e(g/e/)(d/B/)|A(B/4c/4d/)D|E (G/A/4B/4) A/G/|G2|]
MOLLY ST. GEORGE. AKA and see "Bride of Malahide (The)." Irish, Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABB (Bunting, Clinton, Haverty, Wright): AABB (Thompson): AABBCCDD. One of the supposed seven or eight hundred tunes composed by the ancient harper Thomas O'Connellan (c. 1640/164 –1698) (for whom see note for "Breach of Aughrim (The)"). "Molly St. George," along with "Molly MacAlpin" and "Eileen Aroon (1)" (by Cearbhall O'Dalaigh), comprise the three earliest Irish harp tunes with extant lyrics. The melody was included in several of the most important collections throughout the 18th century. Fr. John Quinn finds a version of the melody as the vehicle for "Bride of Malahide (The)" (an air printed in Francis O'Neill's Music of Ireland, 1903, for one), which is the name of a ballad by Limerick-born writer and playwright Gerald Griffin (1803-1840).
