Merry Blacksmith

Behind the cheerful name lies a reel that circulated for a century under titles with nothing to do with a forge. Connor Ward traces its earliest manuscript appearances to 19th-century sources from Counties Longford and Leitrim: the Larry Smyth and O'Farrell manuscripts both carry it as "The Boy in the Gap," while the Cork cleric and piper James Goodman noted versions as "The Railroad" and "The Police Jacket." It reached print in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) and has stayed in wide currency across Ireland, Britain and North America ever since. Brooklyn accordion player John "Dutch" Kimmel cut it in 1915, a few years ahead of Michael Coleman's 1921 recording.