Sheebeg Sheemore (Sí Bheag Sí Mhór) - D MajorWaltz, Air

Although played as a waltz now, this was written as an air before waltzes even existed, by legendary blind Irish harpist Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738). It appears to be an adaptation and expansion of an older piece called An Chuaichín Mhaiseach (The Bonny Cuckoo). It was probably O'Carolan's first composition, while he lived at the house of his first patron Squire George Reynolds of Lough Scur at Letterfain in County Leitrim. Reynolds was himself a harper and poet, and he encouraged O'Carolan to work on his composition skills. The inspiration for the tune was a story told to O'Carolan by Reynolds about Sí Bheag and Sí Mhór, two faerie mounds located near Lough Scur. According to legend, these mounds were the site of a great faerie battle, resulting in the defeat of Finn McCool and his Fianna. The mounds were said to have been topped by ancient ruins, with fairy castles underneath where fallen heroes from the war were buried. These castles were part of the underground world into which the supernatural race Tuatha Dé (later called Aos Sí) retreated by treaty with the invading Milesians, who became the modern Irish people. The fairy mounds were likely ancient conical heaps of stones and earth called motes or raths, built in the Neolithic for ritual and/or burial purposes. Thus, the story may be a connection to events that occurred in prehistory. Squire Reynolds is supposed to have been much pleased by the composition, as have many people since.

Ref: https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Si_Bheag_Si_Mhor
Ref: https://thesession.org/tunes/449
Ref: https://tunearch.org/wiki/Bonny_Cuckoo_(The)
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%AD_Bheag,_S%C3%AD_Mh%C3%B3r
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatha_D%C3%A9_Danann
Ref: https://www.contemplator.com/carolan/sheebeg.html
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lough_Scur

	D	D	GA7	D
	G	A	D(Bm)	D(Bm)
	G	D	Bm	Bm
	G	A	D	D
	D	AD	GA	D
	A	Bm	G	DA
	D	Bm	G	D
	G	A	D	D