Key signature: Adorian
Submitted on December 12th 2001 by B Rad .
This tune has been added to 621 tunebooks.
Also known as David O'Doherty's Favourite, The Maid Of Monsico, The Maid Of Mont Cisco, Maid Of Montcisco, Maid Of Mount Cisco, The Maid Of Mount Cisco, The Maid Of Mount Kisco, The Maid Of Mountcisco, Maid Of Mt. Cisco, The Maid Of Mt. Cisco, The Maid Of Mt. Kisco, The Maid Of Mt. Kisko, The Maids Of Mont Cisco, The Maids Of Montcisco, Maids Of Mount Cisco, The Maids Of Mount Cisco, The Maids Of Mount Kisco, Maids Of Mountcisco, The Maids Of Mt Cisco, The Maids Of Mt. Cisco, The Maids Of Mtount Cisco, Mount The Maids Of Cisco.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Maids Of Mt. Kisco, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Ador
EA~A2 BA~A2|EA~A2 BGAG|EG~G2 AG~G2|EG~G2 EGDG|
EA~A2 BAAG|EA~A2 BABd|efge afge|1 dBGB ~A3G:|2 dBGB A2dB||
|:~A3B dBAB|G2BG DGBG|~A3B dGBd|1 e~g3 gedB :|2 edge d2 Bd||
|:ea~a2 bgaf |gfed GABd|ea~a2 bgaf|gede g2eg|
~a3f ~g3e|dedB GABd|eA~A2 efge|1 dBGB A2 Bd:|2 dBGB ~A3G||
Mt Kisco is in NY state don't know exactly how this tune ended up with that name. This is a Skip Healy favorite, he jokingly calls it the "Maids of Sliabh Kisco". It's a great tune for practicing ornaments on the open A string, whether its a triplet, a cut, a roll, cran or jelly donut.
# Posted on December 12th 2001 by B Rad
I believe it was written by Paddy Killoran, flute or fiddle player, I can't remember which. As Will has reliably informed us, it makes a good fiddle tune, and as a dabbler in the playing of the whistle, I can tell you that it's a great whistle tune as well. It's one of those tunes that begs for little modest variations that even I can manage - just tweaking odd notes and leaping up into the second octave.
# Posted on December 14th 2001 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Maids of Monte Kisco
This is the tune that Mickie Zekley of Lark in the Morning plays on his video, How to Play the Flute in the Traditional Irish Style. He slows the tune way down and reveals the technique for the taps and rolls. He says that Mt. Kisco is "a big Irish City in New York."
# Posted on December 16th 2001 by veerybird
This tune was recorded by the group Arcady on their album Many Happy Returns under the name Maids of Mount Cisco. It is a great session tune. I think it is also on Frankie Gavins new album, Fierce traditional under the Kisco name.
# Posted on December 17th 2001 by Dceol
Mount Kisco
Mount Kisco is actually a small, very pleasant, *very* expensive town in the middle of Westchester county, just a little ways north of NYC. It borders on Chappaqua, the home of both Readers Digest magazine, and the Clinton's NY residence.
I've never noticed that it has a particularly large Irish population. I've heard of a coffeehouse in town where they host traditional music concerts; perhaps that's the origin of the name of the tune?
-Mark
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by MarkCC
Mt Kisco
Mt Kisco and other areas in the Catskills where/are popular resorts for the Irish and Jewish folks in NYC - to take a trip away from the harsh world of NYC living. The East Durham Irish music fest is better known as Cutcher's (sp) around NYC. Cutcher's is a Jewish resort/hotel, well at least for 51 weeks of the year. Many folks who I knew in the Yonkers/Bronx have relocated to the Catskills, or their parents did. It's the typical story... I'll stay in the Bronx/Brooklyn etc till I get on my feet & retire in the Catskills & if I don't do so well there's always New Jersey. (Self proding joke as that's where I was born). All aside it's a good tune.
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by B Rad
Maid of mount kisco
I asked Billy McComiskey about this tune once and this is what he told me (I hope I remember this correctly): He said it's a very very old Sligo fiddle tune that Paddy Killoran played. Paddy was playing in a bar in Mt. Kisco, NY and was enamored with the girl bringing him his drinks so he called the tune The (Bar) Maid of Mt. Kisco after her. Great tune!
# Posted on July 17th 2003 by ving14
The Maids of Mount Kisco
The story I have heard, (probably untrue) is that the "Maids" part refers to the contents of an all girls school in Mount Kisco, New York. As I said, this is probably a complete lie, but makes for a good story. Bill McComiskey probably has it right.
# Posted on January 14th 2006 by barney_morgan
John McGrath
I've also seen the tune attributed to John McGrath on "In Safe Hands" which is an album from young Manchester musicians (1997).
# Posted on April 19th 2008 by 52Paddy
You must watch this...
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqp4I8bNq54&feature=related
good video here: The Maids of Mount Kisco is the first tune on this video
# Posted on May 31st 2008 by I ♥ Dow
I grew up in Mt Kisco and lived there from 1955 - 1973. It was a much smaller and less diverse town during my childhood than it is now, and notably less affluent than neighboring towns.
I don't remember any Irish culture there at all. Neither can I report that the Mount Kisco of my youth was renowned for its maids. Wealthy families sometimes had maids, and there were many elderly unmarried or widowed women in my neighborhood. My mother and grandfather grew up there and my grandmother taught school- I never heard of a girls' school there, unless you counted the Ladies Auxiliary of Nitra, the Yeshiva academy.
I have another hypothesis.
Perhaps the Maids refer to the inmates of the notorious maximum security Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, an easy bicycle ride from Mount Kisco. The 100 + year old facility has housed many inmates who might inspire a tune or two over a pint, such as: Pamela Smart, who conspired with her teen aged lover to kill her husband; Amy Fisher, the "The Long Island Lolita" who killed her lover's wife and later became a porn star; and Jean Harris, who murdered her lover, the author of the Scarsdale Diet.
The area was first settled because of the hops which grew naturally. There has always been beer in Mt. Kisco, which is perhaps sufficient explanation for a good tune.
Thanks for the music and the site!
# Posted on October 2nd 2009 by Shattarack
The Maids of Mt. Cisco
Watch Meath fiddler Mac Dara Ó Raghallaigh play a very interesting version of the tune: http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_254_1_mac_darra_o_raghallaigh/
He is Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh's brother.
# Posted on March 2nd 2010 by slainte
Maids of Mt. Kisco
I too lived in Mt.Kisco ('50-68) so I was interested in this tune's name. I had opportunity to ask musician and music historian Mick Moloney of Green Fields of America (who recorded the tune)
about it. He told me who composed it, although I forget that bit. He said that in the early 20th century, many young women in Mt.Kisco worked in New York City 30 miles south as maids to wealthy family, hence the name.
# Posted on April 4th 2011 by brewerpaul
David O'Doherty's Favourite
Paddy Cronin calls it David O'Doherty's Favourite on his album "Kerry's Own Paddy Cronin".
# Posted on November 9th 2011 by snorre