The Pretty Girls Of Mayo reel

This was the final tune taught us by John McEvilly at the Scoil

For comparison, here is the version in Henrik Norbeck’s collection (also in G):

DG~G2 A2de|fd~d2 fdcA|DG~G2 A2de|1 fdcA BGAF:|2 fdcA AGBd||
g2ge fdde|fdge fdde|~g3e fdde|fdcA AG~G2|
g2ge fdde|fdge fdd^c|defg abag|fdcA BGAF||

Trevor

The link to a different setting: https://thesession.org/tunes/153

I just learnt this tune from their CD The Kilmore Fancy. I’ve really taken a shine to this tune and I’m not sure why. I prefer playing it on flute than banjo and maybe it just happens to sit very well on this instrument.

This tune goes well with Down the Broom. Not sure if the two tunes are related, but they share some similar phrases.

Why are there two files? The second sounds better, I think.

Look at the sheetmusic, there are two seperate transcriptions given, each a single reel of 16 measures…

Seems to me That Pretty Girls of Mayo is very similiar to Sean Reids ( at least to varients of Sean Reids that fon’t feature the F-nat in their B Part ) eg: Mary Bergin, ditto with Doonagore.

These three are cousins if not the same tune.

Pat

This tune is essentially the same as tune #153, Sweet Biddy of Ballyvournie, which also appears under a number of further titles.

Ennis played something very similar to the second tune which he called The Music of the Forge.

I have been practising this tune like mad recently and, I don’t know why, but I just find it impossible to play. I don’t seem to be getting any better at it. There’s something about the phrasing and the string crossing that makes it a right bugger to find a bowing that works. Every time I play it I end up bowing everything really awkwardly and tripping over myself. I’ve had such problems occasionally before on other tunes but always managed to solve them with a bit of practice. Not this one. Aaaaaargh.

A version from a workshop with John Whelan.

Love this reel.

A nice session standard, taken from ‘A Fine Selection of Over 200 Irish Traditional Tunes for Sessions’, compiled by David Speers with a Forward by Matt Cranitch. This has a step up in the first phrase and a couple of other differences so I’ve added it to the list.