Annotation:Mrs. Spens Monroe
X:1 T:Mrs. Spens Monro’s Jig M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig B:Aird – Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 4 B:(1796, No. 22, p. 9) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G D|G2G AGA|Bcd efg|G2G AGA|BGE E2D| G2G AGA|Bcd efg|{e}dcB AGA|BGG G2:| |:f|gfg efg|fdd def|gfg aga|bge e2f| gfg aga |bge efg|dcB cBA|BGG G2:|]
MRS. SPENS MONROE. AKA and see "King (The)," "Best in the Bag (The)," "Happy Mistake (The)," "Humors of Glenath," "Jim O'Connor's," "John Blessing's Delight," "King's Jig (2)," "King of Jigs," "Lady Shire’s Favorite," "Miss Monroe’s Jig," "Mrs. Monroe’s (1)," "Munster Jig (1) (The)," "Reel de Paddy," "Reel Lasalle." Scottish, (Irish?); Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune was first printed in Glasgow publisher James Aird's Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 4 (1796) as "Mrs. Spens Monroe," however, it has had a long history in Ireland and may have an Irish provenance. It was also entered into the mid-19th century music copybook belonging to Northumbrian musician John Baty as "Mrs. Spens Munro." County Cork cleric and uilleann piper James Goodman entered versions of the jig into his large mid-19th century manuscript collection as "Humors of Glenath" and, in the first strain, "Caravat Jig."
See also versions by Montreal fiddler Joseph Allard's (1973-1947) recordings of the jig under the titles "Reel de Paddy," "Reel du commerce" and "Reel Lasalle," and (in duple time) Isidore Soucy's "Reel de Berluchon."
Spens Monroe is a Scottish family name. The fifth President of the United States, James Monroe (1758-1831) is said to have been descended from one line of Spens Monroes; and his father was Spens Monroe, and James was the great-grandson of Andrew and Elizabeth Spens Monroe.
