Annotation:Old Woman Lamenting Her Purse (The)
OLD WOMAN LAMENTING HER PURSE, THE (An sean bean ag caoinead a sporan). AKA and see "Maguire's Kick," "Old Woman's Cash," "Stolen Purse (2) (The)." Irish, Air (6/8 time, "with feeling") or Jig. G Major (Roche): F Major (O'Neill, Stanford/Petrie). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Stanford/Petrie): AABB (O'Neill, Roche). Petrie's setting is a "Munster dance tune" of no great antiquity, although O'Neill seems to consider it an air. The jig, as "Old Woman Lost Her Purse", can be found in the mid-19th century music manuscript collection of Sliabh Luachra musician D. Curtin, and County Leitrim fiddler and piper biography:Stephen Grier (c. 1824-1894) entered the tune as "Old Woman's Cash" in Book 3 of his large c. 1883 music manuscript collection. Peter Kennedy's "Old Woman's Purse of Money (2) (The)" is a version of "Old Woman Lamenting Her Purse," probably simply a confusion of titles rather than a true alternate. See also "Rocking the Cradle" and "Rocking a Baby That's None of My Own" for similar song laments.
