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The Lady On The Island reel

Also known as An Mhaighdean Ar’n Oileán, Lady Of The Island, The Lady Of The Island, Maighdean An Oileáin.

There are 51 recordings of a tune by this name.

A tune by this name has been recorded together with The Sailor On The Rock (a few times), Callaghan’s (a few times), The Banks Of The Illen (a few times), The Fox On The Town (a few times) and The Gatehouse Maid (a few times).

The Lady On The Island has been added to 11 tune sets.

The Lady On The Island has been added to 314 tunebooks.

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Four settings

X: 1
T: The Lady On The Island
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
| BAFB AFEF | D2FA BAdB | BAFB ~A2AB | defd efdB |
BAFB AFEF | DAFA GBdB | BAFB AFAB | defd eABc ||
|:d2fd efge | afdf edBA |1 d2fd efge |
afdf e2 (3ABc :|2 defg ~a2ab | afdf edd2 ||
X: 2
T: The Lady On The Island
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
dB|:BAFB AFEF|D2FA BAdB|BAFB ~A3B|1 d2fd efdB:|2 d2fd e2(3ABc||
d2fd efge|afdf edBc|d2fd efge|afdf e2(3ABc|
d2fd efge|afdf edBc|defg afbf|afdf efdB||
X: 3
T: The Lady On The Island
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
d3A|{d}BAFB AFEF|D2 (3FED {d}BAdB|{d}BAFB AFAB|defd efdB|
|{d}BAFB AFEF|D2 (3FED {d}BAdB|{d}BAFB AFAB|defd ed (3ABc|| defd
|efge|afdf e~B3|defd efge|afdf e2 (3ABc| d2 fd e~f3|afdf e~B3|defg a2
|ba|{b}afdf e2 dB||
# Added .
X: 4
T: The Lady On The Island
R: reel
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:BAFB AFEF | D2FA BAFd | BAFB A3B | defd efdB |
BAFB AFEF | D2 FA BAdB | BAFB AFAB | defd e3f ||
|:d2fd efge | afdf edBA | d2fd efge |afdf e3f|
d2fd efge | afdf edBA |defg a3b | afdf efdB ||
# Added by JACKB .

Ten comments

A great tune I learned off the album "Wooden Flute Obsession," or something like that…
It’s the second tune in a set that Gary Shannon does. The other tunes, I believe, are 1.) The Fox on the Town, and 3.) The London Lasses (?). In my opinion, it goes great with Rolling In the Ryegrass.

Lady on the Island

I can’t remember where - but I’ve heard the title of this tune was dedicated to the statue of liberty.

number to in Garry Shannon’s set Windwood

Posted by .

Grey Larsen and Paddy League have a great rendition of this tune on their CD "The Green House" Grey’s flute mastery really shines through. I prefer his version over Garry Shannon’s jazzier style, though GS has some great variations.

Posted by .

The Lady on the Island

I find all the versions of the tune available on the net a little bit awkward, so I made up my own based on Mick O’Brien and Kevin O’Reilly’s lovely whistle and fiddle duet playing of it.

K: Dmaj
dB|:BAFB AFEF|D2FA BAdB|BAFB ~A3B|1 d2fd efdB:|2 d2fd e2(3ABc||
d2fd efge|afdf edBc|d2fd efge|afdf e2(3ABc|
d2fd efge|afdf edBc|defg afbf|afdf efdB||

I think it’s much neater and very close to the versions we come across in the real sessions. It’s one of the great pieces for flute and fiddle duet, but also sounds lovely on the button box.

Saltcast sent me an mp3 of Denis Murphy playing this tune, and the first time through, this is how Denis plays it.

X:1
T:Lady on the Island
S:Denis Murphy
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:D
d3A|{d}BAFB AFEF|D2 (3FED {d}BAdB|{d}BAFB AFAB|defd efdB|
|{d}BAFB AFEF|D2 (3FED {d}BAdB|{d}BAFB AFAB|defd ed (3ABc|| defd
|efge|afdf e~B3|defd efge|afdf e2 (3ABc| d2 fd e~f3|afdf e~B3|defg a2
|ba|{b}afdf e2 dB||

There are two fiddles (Julia Clifford, no doubt), mostly playing in unison, but on some phrases they differ from one another, and it’s not always clear which fiddle is playing which notes.

Posted .

After The Break

Planxty’s version of this tune is quite lovely.

This is a great tune, no wonder it is listed as one of the 100 most recorded tune in Alan Ng’s database http://www.irishtune.info/top-tunes/ (in 86th position, as by today’s date, out of over 5,000 different tunes in his index)

Anyone else think the starts of it sounds like "Ceathrú Cabhan"?

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