Saturday 21 January 2012
Tune of the Day: The Longford Collector
Traditional Irish reel
This tune is often played in a set after The Tarbolton Reel or The Donegal Reel.
Barry O'Neill, in his notes for the LP Wheels of the World, states that the title was known to New York City fiddler Michael Coleman as “The Longford Beggarwoman”. The story goes that Coleman was playing the tune in a taproom and after he finished someone asked him the name, which he gave as “Longford Beggarwoman”. Immediately, a plate sailed across the room and crashed on the wall near his head, followed by an irate woman shouting something to the effect that she was from Longford and they weren't beggars there!