Tuesday 28 May 2019
Tune of the Day: The Devil To Pay
Traditional Irish reel
This reel comes from the Rice-Walsh manuscript, a collection of music from the repertoire of the 19th-century Irish fiddler Jeremiah Breen.
The phrase “the devil to pay”, dating from the early 18th century, refers to the bargain formerly supposed to be made between a person and the devil, the former receiving extraordinary powers or wealth in return for their souls. It is still used today to indicate a huge amount of trouble.