This is a true Doolin classic. “The Boy In The Gap” is a reel that is very much associated with Micho Russell. He used to play it after another fine reel, “Seán Sa Cheo”, but these days you hear them the other way around most of the times.
“The Laurel Tree” is the second reel I have ever learned! I learned it from my friend Tom Delany during a lovely afternoon back in 2006 in the garden of Magnetic Music Café, where I used to work back then. I had this tune stuck in my head as it was the opening tune on Hugh and Colm Healy’s album “Macalla na hÓige”.
“The Limestone Rock” is a common session tune here in North Clare and the name is actually a reference to the Burren. This reel appears in O’Neill’s book as “Tit for Tat”. It is very often followed by “The Humours of Loughrea”, another great reel. I learned this set from Noel O’Donoghue.
I heard it from the playing of accordion player Bryan O’Leary, who cites Paddy Cronin as the source. It is a very old tune that appears as “A Feg For A Kiss” in Robert Bremner’s 1757 collection, and probably is a version of the more famous slip jig “A Fig For A Kiss”.
2 thoughts on “Boy In The Gap (The)”
Beautiful tune. We got notes for “The Boy in the Gap” but we’re different. Could you please send me your notes. clare25cunningham@gmail.com Thank you
Hi Clare, thanks for your commment and sorry for the delay, I missed the notification! I offer printable PDFs on my Patreon and supporters can request tunes as well! Feel free to have a look there: https://www.patreon.com/c/tunesfromdoolin/ Best regards from Doolin, Charles