Stone Of Destiny reel

This is a newly composed tune by Maurice Lennon from his recent CD “Brian Boru, the High King of Tara”. Maurice (nephew of Charlie - also a composer - and son of Ben, noted Leitrim traditional players) was a founder member of the trad group, Stockton’s Wing. All of the tunes on the CD, apart from Brian Boru’s March, are composed by Maurice. I picked this one which is not only very catchy, but was also fairly easy to transpose - transposition is not one of my stronger points but hopefully it’s mostly correct!

Lunasa do a nice version of this tune on their latest album, Se. Definately worth a look.

Great tune.

Here’s a transcription of the Lunasa setting: some tweaks to Maurice’s version in the OP.

X: 1

T: Stone Of Destiny
C: Maurice Lennon
D: Lunasa, Se’

M: 4/4

L: 1/8
K: G

BddB G2 Bd|d2 Bd edBA|BddB GABd|gedB ~A3d|

edBA B~G3|BGAG EAGE|D~G3 DGBe|1 dBAB ~G3A:|2 dBAB ~G3d||

edBA B~G3|BGAG EGDd|edBA BGGA|BddB ~A3d|

edBA B~G3|BGAG EAGE|D~G3 DGBe|1 dBAB ~G3d:|2 dBAB ~G3A||

Does any one know what prompted Maurice Lennon to give his tune the name? Has it got anything to do with the theme of “Oran na Cloiche” a recent Scottish song about an old stone of contention with England?
…
Gun tuirt e ‘s dath a’ bhàis air _ Said he, looking deathly pale
“Cha chreidinn-sa gu bràth e _ ”I’d never have believed
Gu togadh fear bho làr i _ It could have been raised from the floor
Nach b’ àirde na speach _ By someone no bigger than a wasp
Tha rudeigin an dàn dhomh _ Something is to happen to me
’S gun cuidicheadh an tÀgh mi _ And Heaven help me
Bha’ n duine thug à sàs i _ The man who unloosed it
Cho làidir ri each“ _ Must be as strong as a horse”

Roddy Campbell sings this song on https://thesession.org/recordings/3650 The tune seems totally unrelated.

I didn’t pay much attention to this reel at first but it proves plenty fun to play; it kinda puts you in a loop and plays with the expectation it forms in your mind!

It’s pentatonic, with neither a 4th nor a 7th throughout.

Chords by Bruce Williams
ABC Setting copied from Setting#1
Added composer name from one of the comments

Maurice playing it in a workshop in Alaska in 2016: https://vimeo.com/170677016

Lunasa: https://youtu.be/JDmJM5zokiI?t=184 (tune starts at 3:04)

play video

Slower recording from the Foinn Seisiun albums: https://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/stone_of_destiny/

I recently came across a version of this tune by Liam O’Brien, Ciara Ní Bhriain & Macdara Ó Faoláin. It’s the first tune of this wonderful set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4GBpsl0mWk&list=RDx4GBpsl0mWk&start_radio=1

play video

Version put together from a live recording of the man himself