Tune of the Day: Lannigan's Ball
This popular folk Irish song has been played throughout the world since at least the 1860s, and possibly much longer. Typically set in a minor key, it is nonetheless generally played in an upbeat style reminiscent of a party's atmosphere.
The origins of both the tune and the lyrics of the song are unclear. In Folk Songs of the Catskills (1982), edited by Norman Cazden, Herbert Haufrecht and Norman Studer, there is a reference to John Diprose's songster of 1865 attributing “Lannigan's Ball” to D. K. Gavan with music by John Candy. It also mentions that the tune was previously known as “Hurry the Jug”. In 1863, William Pond & Co. published the song in an arrangement by Charles William Glover, attributing the words to Tony Pastor and the music to Neil Bryant of Bryant's Minstrels.