Annotation:Darling of the Uist Lasses (The)

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DARLING OF THE UIST LASSES, THE (Mac a' Bhaillidh a Uist). AKA - "Uist Lasses' Darling (The)." Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The islands of North Uist and South Uist are in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides Islands. This tune "is an air peculiar to the Island of Uist. The baron bailie of a large estate was a man of considerable importance in remote times. The return of his son to his native country is celebrated by the Uist lasses, with whom he seems to have been a peculiar favourite, either as good looking or possessing some other attractive qualification. Formerly in Uist all the dancers sung their own music" (Fraser).

The reel is popular among Cape Breton fiddlers, and frequently recorded.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1816/1874; No. 69, p. 25. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 2; No. 164, p. 19. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 116.

Recorded sources: Rounder 82161-7032-2, Bill Lamey – “From Cape Breton to Boston and Back: Classic House Sessions of Traditional Cape Breton Music 1956-1977” (2000). Rounder Records 7057, Jerry Holland - "Parlor Music" (2005).

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]




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