The blackbird among the berries, reel

Hughie Bonar  was a popular and highly regarded fiddle player in his locality of Fál Chorb, An Machaire in Donegal. Séamus Ennis described him as ‘a small, quiet, strong man, thickset, stocky and quite a good fiddle player’. Ennis transcribed nine tunes from Hughie Bonar when he spent the day with him on the 10th of March 1944 including this unusual reel ‘The Blackbird among the Berries’. The tune is also known as ‘The Camber Lasses’ and was recorded by Séamus McGuire and John Lee on their 1990 album The Missing Reel.