Musical Priest: A Song History
"The Musical Priest" is an Irish reel, usually played in B Dorian (B minor), whose Irish titles include "Sagart an Cheoil."[1][2] None of the sources consulted here identifies the priest of the title or explains how the tune got its name. Its roots may lie in Scotland: the Traditional Tune Archive considers it probably derived from "Belhelvie House," a strathspey by the Scottish composer William Marshall that the Gows renamed "North Bridge of Edinburgh," and it notes a version in the mid-19th-century manuscript of the Gunn family of County Fermanagh.[1] The reel reached print in Francis O'Neill's collections, as No. 1284 in Music of Ireland (1903) and No. 549 in Dance Music of Ireland (1907).[1][3] The Archive cautiously suggests that the County Mayo fiddler John McFadden (1847–1913), a member of Chicago's Irish Music Club around 1900, may have adapted or even composed the reel, and names him as the source of O'Neill's setting.[1]
Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory, Fiddler, soft-paste porcelain, ca. 1755. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0). Shown for the fiddle; it has no connection to the tune.
The County Sligo fiddler James Morrison, who popularized the reel, recorded it in New York in August 1935 for Columbia.[1][3] It is the earliest recording in irishtune.info's discography, which runs through the Chieftains' first album (about 1963) to 2011.[2] Other notable versions listed by the Archive include those of Bobby Casey, Andy McGann with Paddy Reynolds, Tommy Peoples, Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra, John and Phil Cunningham, and the band Trapezoid (1979).[1]
Today it is a familiar session reel. It is in Mallinson's 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes (1995), and irishtune.info, whose members log the tunes they play, counts several hundred who list it and reports that it is often played after "Wild Irishman" and before "Sheehan's." It also appears in Brody's Fiddler's Fakebook (1983).[1][2]
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