• Home
  • About Vi
    • Bio
      • Short Bio
      • Full Bio
    • Resume
    • Testimonials
    • Fiddle Lessons
    • Workshops
  • Projects
    • Fritto Misto
    • The Band
    • Fiddle Whamdiddle
    • String Theory Project
    • New Tune Challenge
  • Blog
    • Fiddle Tune a Day
    • Quick Tip of The Week
    • Videos
    • Workshops
  • Shop
    • Albums
    • Singles
    • Digital Downloads
      • Armadillo On a Hot Tin Roof
      • Fiddle Tune a Day
      • I’d Love to Live in Loveland – Digital Download
      • Long Time Comin’
      • Old School Old Time
      • Someone Like You
      • ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
    • Books
    • Sheet Music
    • Tickets
    • Violins
  • Calendar
  • Contact
    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Linkedin
    • Twitter

Vi Wickam

Champion Fiddler, Inspired Performer

You are here: Home / Fiddling / Fiddle Tune a Day / Big John McNeil – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 197

July 20, 2012

Big John McNeil – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 197

The only thing I know about Big John McNeil is that it’s a popular Canadian fiddle tune. It’s a fun tune to play, not too difficult, but when you play it as fast as they do, just about anything can tie your fingers in a not. It also has some similarities with Durham’s Bull.

I also found this thread on ancestry.com about a man named ‘Big’ John McNeil. 🙂

 

Get Sheet Music to this Tune

Learn to Play Big John McNeil on fiddle here

 

Big John McNeil according to Fiddler’s Companion

BIG JOHN McNEIL(L)/McNEAL. AKA and see “John McNeil(‘s Reel).” Canadian, American, Scottish; Reel. Canada, widely known. USA; New England, Missouri. A Major. Standard (or infrequently AEae) tuning. AABB (Gibbons, Messer, Sweet): AABB’ (Miller & Perron): AA’BB’ (Begin, Perlman, Phillips). Though now known as a Canadian standard it originally was a reel composed (as “John McNeil”) by the brilliant Scottish fiddler Peter Milne (1824-1908), one of J. Scott Skinner’s teachers and early playing partners, who earned his living playing in theaters until his opium addiction (he abused laudanum, originally prescribed for rheumatism) reduced him to busking on ferry‑boats crossing the Firth of Forth. He died in unpleasant circumstances in a mental institution. John McNeil was a famous Highland dancer of the mid-to-later 19th century (see note for “John McNeil’s Reel” for more). The melody was in the repertoire of Cyrill Stinnett, a fiddler who epitomised the ‘North Missouri Hornpipe Style’ of playing, who apparently learned it and other tunes from listening to Canadian fiddlers broadcasting on the radio from Canada. Indeed, an influential recording of the tune was made ‘Down-East’ Canadian fiddler Don Messer with his group the Islanders, early in the 1940’s—among the first of the sides the group waxed. A similar melody is “Lord Ramsay’s Reel [4].” Perlman (1996) notes the tune is a popular tune on Prince Edward Island, and a favorite vehicle for stepdancing in Prince County, PEI, on the eastern part of the island. Irish fiddler Sean Maguire recorded the melody in the 1960’s under the title “Betty’s Fancy [2].”

***

Sources for notated versions: Max Sexsmith (British Columbia), who learned this “classic” reel in the 1940’s from radio broadcasts and records by Don Messer and His Islanders (who recorded it in 1942) [Gibbons]; Jay Unger (West Hurley, New York) via Bud Snow (Putnam County, New York) who also learned it from Canadian fiddler Don Messer [Fiddle Fever]; Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ontario) [Begin]. Francis MacDonald (b. 1940, Morell Rear, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]. Begin (Fiddle Music in the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 5, pg. 19. Feldman & O’Doherty (The Northern Fiddler), 1979; pg. 187. Gibbons (As It Comes: Folk Fiddling From Prince George, British Columbia), 1982; No. 11, pgs. 28‑29. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 12, pg. 79. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddlers Repertoire), 1983; No. 133. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 96. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; pg. 23. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; pg. 9. Sweet (Fifer’s Delight), 1964; pg. 77. Condor 977‑1489, “Graham & Eleanor Townsend Live at Barre, Vermont.” Flying Fish FF 247, “Fiddle Fever” (1981). Fretless 101, “The Campbell Family: Champion Fiddlers.” GRT Records SP 203, “Ward Allen Presents Maple Leaf Hoedown, Vol. 1” (reissue). GRT Records 9230-1031, “The Best of Ward Allen” (1973). MCA Records MCAD 4037, “The Very Best of Don Messer” (1994). Rounder 0320, Bob Carlin & John Hartford – “The Fun of Open Discussion” (taught to Hartford in his early years by Missouri fiddler Gene Goforth).

Article by Vi Wickam / Fiddle Tune a Day, Fiddling, Videos / american, canadian fiddler, Day, fun, john mcneil, lord ramsay, opium addiction, Reel, Scottish, scottish fiddler 4 Comments

online fiddle lessons

Featured Products

  • Master Scale System - Violin Book with Digital Audio $24.95
  • Old School Old Time - CD/Digital COMBO $27.00 $20.00
  • Old School Old Time Book - Fiddle Whamdiddle Old School Old Time - Book/CD Combo $49.95 $44.95
  • Fast Fiddle Fitness Violin eBook Fast Fiddle Fitness eBook - Violin Edition $14.95
  • Old School Old Time Book - Fiddle Whamdiddle Old School Old Time - eBook $24.95

Comments

  1. Michael Friedman says

    June 28, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    Fantastic musical performance !

    Reply
  2. Vi Wickam says

    July 1, 2014 at 3:49 pm

    Thanks. It brings out the Canadian in me. 🙂

    Reply
  3. Norma Trewhella says

    August 15, 2014 at 4:35 pm

    Love that song. Can't play it, but love it.

    Reply
  4. Vi Wickam says

    August 18, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    It's harder than it sounds, and if you work on it, it will give your pinky finger a great work out. 😉

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Swinging at the Savoy

Get Swinging at the Savoy NOW.

Cart

Keep Up with Vi

    (Fiddle Tune a Day and Quick Tip Subscribers will also get periodic blog updates)
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

  • Colorado Music (28)
  • Fiddling (676)
    • Contests (13)
    • Fiddle Tune a Day (367)
    • Free Fiddle Lessons (15)
    • Musician's Round Table (8)
    • New Tune Challenge (21)
    • Workshops (52)
  • Music (144)
  • Musings (13)
  • Videos (609)
    • eGreetings (4)
    • Quick Tips (124)

Popular Posts

  • Fiddle Tune a Day
  • The Difference between a Violin and a Fiddle
  • How to Put on a Fiddle Contest Successfully
  • Play any Song You’ve Ever Heard
  • Binaural Beats Music Technology of the Future
  • Home
  • About Vi
  • Projects
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 Vi "The Fiddler" Wickam | Genesis Website by Wickam Group, LLC