Monday 26 March 2018
Tune of the Day: The Raveled Hank of Yarn
Traditional Irish reel
This melody is known under several different titles (notably “Nellie Donovan” and “The Doon Reel”), and appears in many collections published in the early 20th century. In Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922), Francis O'Neill recounts:
A few years ago as Mr. Leech was fingering a stray reel on his flute, Prof. John Cummings [...] remarked “that’s The Raveled Hank Of Yarn and I had forgotten it for the last forty years”. Although then in his 85th year he buckled on his pipes, and played the tune in a style which astonished his audience.