The Fair-haired Lass

reel

Key signature: Amixolydian

Submitted on December 19th 2002 by Dow.

This tune has been added to 47 tunebooks.

Also known as The Dark Haired Lass, The Fair Haired Lass, The Fair-Haired Lass, Jig Away The Donkey, Mick Hoy's, Mick Hoy's Jig Away The Donkey, The Piper On Horseback.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

Around The World For Sport by The Doon Céilí Band
Blackwater by Altan
Erne by Jim McGrath, Cathal Hayden, Gerry O'Donnell, Tommy O'Sullivan
Hidden Fermanagh Vol.2 by Various Artists
Irish Women Musicians Of America by Cherish The Ladies
Live Recordings From The William Kennedy Piping Festival by Various Artists
Music On The Wind by Sean Moloney
My Love Is In America by Various Artists
Na Draiodoiri by Na Draiodoiri
Noonday Feast by Joe Shannon And Johnny McGreevy
Northern Lights by Steve Coulter And Harris Moore
Roll Away The Reel World by James Keane
Shantalla by Shantalla
The Moneymusk by Hammy Hamilton
The Next Turn by Trouble In The Kitchen
The Rocky Road by Michael Kerry
Track Across The Deep by London Lasses And Pete Quinn
Tri by Far From Home
With Every Breath by John Wynne
Wooden Flute Obsession Disk 1 by Various Artists

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Henrik Norbeck's and JC's indexes have other versions of this in Ador. The Amix version is the one that gets played at my local session anyway.

# Posted on December 19th 2002 by Dow

Eileen Ivers plays a version of this tune on 'Wild Blue' (which enters a pupal phase, eventually re-emerging as Jenny's Chickens). She calls it The Piper on Horseback, although I have come across another tune with this name, and I wonder if one of them might be an impostor. Anyway, her version (pre-disintegration) goes something like this:

ea~a2 g3f|ea~a2 ABcd|ea~a2 efge|agec d2cd:|:
eAfA g3f|eAcA B2GB|ABcd eg~g2|agec d2cd|
eAfA gAfA|eAcA B2GB|ABcd eg~g2|agec d2cd||

# Posted on December 21st 2002 by granama

Fair Haired Lass

This is the tune I've always known as "Jig Away The Donkey", which is often played before "The Piper On Horseback". I've always thought that someone got the names of the two tunes mixed up when they gave the tune to Eileen Ivers. Cathal Hayden recorded an odd version of this on his "Handed Down" LP/CD, which causes havoc in a session if you have musicians who know the different versions, and try to play them at the same time.

# Posted on December 24th 2002 by Kenny

The Fair-Haired Lass

A slightly different version of the tune appears on Hammy Hamilton's "The Moneymusk" as "The Dark-Haired Lass," which is probably a mistake.

There're some similar Northern tunes on this site:
The Flowers of Red Hill: http://thesession.org/tunes/display.php/442
The Merry Harriers: http://thesession.org/tunes/display.php/1230
The Cup of Tea (Scottish pipe tune): http://thesession.org/tunes/display.php/3038

# Posted on July 11th 2004 by slainte

Mick Hoy's

Listen to Hammy Hamilton playing this tune, backed by Eoin O'Neill: http://homepage.tinet.ie/~hammie/Hoy.mp3

# Posted on February 16th 2005 by slainte

The Fair-Haird Lass aka. Mick Hoy's

I haven't got Hidden Fermanagh CDs yet, but Mr. Ptarmigan kindly played them on the stereo while I visited him. I remember this tune appears as "Mick Hoy's Jig away the Donkey."

# Posted on April 12th 2006 by slainte

If I am right, I think that Chris Stout plays this under the name "Piper On Horseback" rather than http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1247 which is the tune that is listed in the album details on here.

# Posted on September 9th 2007 by creathana

Chris Stout got it wrong. I'll give you good odds he learned it from Eileen Ivers' recording, or someone else who did.

# Posted on September 10th 2007 by Kenny

Eileen Ivers writes: "The first reel, Piper On Horseback, is a Donegal tune I learned from the playing of New York-based fiddler Andi Leahy." Possibly she got the title from the same source.

The London Lasses & Pete Quinn also recorded this as "The Piper on Horseback." Whether it's a plain mistake or confusion, it is now becoming a common title for this tune.

# Posted on September 10th 2007 by slainte

It's still feckin' wrong. And it's not a Donegal tune, she got that wrong too.

# Posted on September 10th 2007 by Kenny