Annotation:Pouca (The)

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POUCA, THE. Irish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune begins on the relative minor. A pouca, or in Irish púca, usually refers to magical beings—a "water sprite,” or "mischievous fairy,” for example (cf the Pooka McPhellimy in Flann O'Brien's masterpiece At Swim Two Birds. Shakespeare adapted the word for his character Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The first strain is cognate with the first strain of “Mrs. Crotty's Hornpipe.”

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: McGuire & Keegan (Irish Tune by the 100, vol. 1), 1975; No. 56, p. 15.

Recorded sources:

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