Friday 22 November 2024
Tune of the Day: Morgan Rattler
Traditional Irish jig
“Morgan Rattler” was one of the most popular dance tunes of the 19th century, judging from the number of appearances in both published and musicians' manuscript collections throughout Britain, Ireland and North America.
Collector Francis O'Neill states that this tune descends from a two-strain melody called “Jackson's Bouner Bougher” (found in Jackson's Celebrated Irish Tunes, Dublin, c. 1774), which carries the name of Irish composer, uilleann piper and fiddler Walker ‛Piper’ Jackson. Brendan Breathnach suggests that the title “Bouner Bougher” may be a corruption of the Irish Bonn ar bóthar, meaning “A step in the road”.