Tag Archives: O’Neill’s Tunes
Cup of Tea (D)
The “Cup of Tea” reel was once called “The Unfortunate Cup of Tea,” which is pretty mysterious.  Speculatively, I would suggest that it refers to a well-prepared, and sweetly anticipated cup of tea that has been subsequently squandered in transportation.  That name was used by the early Irish rock band Horslips for the name of […]
Out on the Ocean (G)
This jig, “Out on the Ocean,”  is sometimes played in A rather than G – on Planxty’s After The Break (1979), for instance. It is a great tune played either rapidly or slowly.  It seems to have been collected first by George Petrie, whose collection is available online. His best known collection is entitled Ancient Irish […]
The Lilting Banshee (Ador)
The tune we know as “The Lilting Banshee” is listed as “The Miller of Glanmire” in O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland (1907) – called “O’Neill’s 1001” because it has 1001 tunes in it, or called “not the yellow one, the other book.” In fact, this tune has many names, and what it’s called will depend […]
Kid on the Mountain (Eaeol)
In the slip jig “Kid on the Mountain,” the “kid” in the title is a young goat, of course, not some human child stranded on some high wind-blown wintry mountain in Jaunary.  When I play it I like to think of the kid as traversing a rocky slope on a nice Spring day. Now this […]
Child of My Heart (Aaeol)
“Child of My Heart” is a single jig, #1095 in O’Neill’s 1850 (1903) and #395 in O’Neill 1001 (1907). According to the Fiddler’s Companion, the tune was picked up by Capt. Francis O’Neill from John Ennis, the piper and flute player from County Kildare who had himself gotten it from a nameless player who was […]
 Drowsy Maggie (Edor)
“Drowsy Maggie” is a very popular reel at sessions all over the world. It’s #1425 in O’Neill’s 1850 – i.e., O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (1903) – and so probably dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. However, there’s not much clear information about the tune’s origin or subsequent history. It should not be confused with a set […]
Mountain Road (D)
“The Mountain Road” is a reel composed by Michael Gorman (1895-1970), an Irish fiddler from County Sligo.  When he was young, his foster parents sent him for fiddle lessons to James Gannon (who taught Michael Coleman). Willie Clancy used to tell a story about a nine year old Gorman: “Gannon wrote out the tunes in his […]
My Darling Asleep (D)
The jig entitled “My Darling Asleep” is #925 in O’Neill’s 1850 (1903). The piper and pipe maker Leo Rowsome (1903-1970) used to recount a story in which Chief O’Neill (1848-1936) got this tune from Abram Sweetman Beamish of co. Cork, who called it “My Darling in Bed.” O’Neill thought that that title was just too suggestive, […]