Annotation:Woeful Widow (The)
X:1 T:Woeful Widow, The M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig S:O’Neill – Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 307 Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Emin d|efe edB|dBA BGE|GAG BdB|BAA ABd| efe edB|dBA BGE|GFG BdB|AGG G2:| |:A|GBd ~g3|agf g2e|gfe edB|dBA BGE| GBd ~g3|agf g2e|dBA BGE|DGG G2:|]
WOEFUL WIDOW, THE. AKA and see “Humors of Lisheen (The),” “Thrush in the Straw (2) (The).” Irish, Jig (6/8 time). E Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Paul de Grae remarks:
Perhaps derived from Petrie's "Slán agus beanacht lé búadhraibh an t-saoghail" (SP 1478; literally, "farewell and blessings to the troubles of life"), O'Neill's first part is an almost exact transposition from F to G of Petrie's tune; the second part is also very close to Petrie's, but where Petrie ends the second part the same way as the first, O'Neill re-uses the opening motif of the second part.
Petrie's other airs of the same title [SP 1461-3] are unrelated to this jig tune.
In very slightly different form, the tune is common in Sliabh Luachra as "The Humours of Lisheen."[1]
The jig was recorded by piper Seamus Ennis in 1959 as "Thrush in the Straw."
