Annotation:Tom Cawley's
X: 1 T: Tom Cawley's N: "TC was a fiddler from Doocastle, Co.Sligo" (near Brendan Tonra's N: home town - BB) M: 6/8 L: 1/8 Q: 325 S: Treoir 32/4 Z: Transcribed by Bill Black R: jig K: G D | GBB BAB | GBB BAG | FAA A2 D | FAA A2 D | GBB BAB | GBB BAG | def gdc | BGG G2 :| g | aba afd | gag gfe | d^cd gdB | BAA A2 g | aba afd | gag gfe | d^cd gd=c | BGG G2 :|
TOM CAWLEY’S. AKA – “Wind off the Lake (The).” AKA – “Tommy Cowley’s.” Irish, Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Tom Cawley was a fiddler from the Tubbercurry, Doocastle, County Sligo, close to the Mayo border near Charleston, who emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. He made some important recordings during the “golden age” of Irish traditional music in the 1920’s-1940’s, often paired with another fiddler, Francis Cashin. The duo recorded “Silver Tip (4) (The)” (AKA "Father Tom's Wager") in 1929, and a year later recorded in Chicago the reel “Wheels of the World (1) (The).” Cawley eventually settled in New York and played in various bands in Harlem in the 1930’s (personal communication from his grandson, Matt Cawley). He died around 1940.
