Annotation:Nolan the Soldier

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NOLAN THE SOLDIER (Ua Nuallain An Ceatarnac). AKA and see "Wicklow's March (The)," "Miners of Wicklow (The)," "Paddy O’Flynn," "Lassie of Gowrie (The)." Irish, Jig. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The tune is a quickstep tune for the fife, according to Francis O'Neill, who named the melody after Nolan, who had been a fifer in the Confederate army during the Civil War. O'Neill learned the melody in Edina, Missouri, where he lived for a time in the 1870's, and where Nolan and his son (who played the drums) would "give free exhibitions of their skill on the public square at Edina to enliven the evenings while the weather was fine" (O'Neill, Irish Folk Music). O'Neill's contemporary, and sometime source for tunes, uilleann piper and stage comedian Patsy Tuohey (1865-1923), recorded a cognate melody as "Miners of Wicklow (The)," by which title it was published in Glasgow by James Aird at the end of the 18th century. See also the related "Seán Buí."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 726, p. 135.

Recorded sources: See also listing at:
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [1]




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