''Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór'' (traditional feminine form, the alternative masculine form being "Sí Beag, Sí Mór"),

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

as Sheebeg, Sheemore, is a traditional Irish folk tune. The title uses the word , the Irish for .

Dictionary of the Irish Language ''Dictionary of the Irish Language: Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials'' (also called "the ''DIL''"), published by the Royal Irish Academy, is the definitive dictionary of the origins of the Irish language, specifically the Old Irish, ...

:
síd, síth
'

Origins

The tune is usually attributed to blind harpist and singer Turlough O'Carolan (1670–1738) as his first song, written to the tune of "The Bonnie Cuckoo" ( Roud 24351). One author describes it as a "beautiful old Irish air, usually played simply and leisurely, and occasionally played as a waltz". Sí Mór (Sheemore) and Sí Beag (Sheebeg) are the names given to two small hills, situated close to each other in south

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

, said to be ancient burial sites, and to a site in Carolan's birth county of

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

Recordings

In modern times the tune has been recorded by many artists, first by

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, gu ...

on their 1973 debut album ''

'' and by The Boys of the Lough on their 1973 debut album '' The Boys of the Lough'', then by

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

on their 1975 album '' The Chieftains 5'', as part of "The Humours of Carolan" suite. It has been performed live on numerous occasions by

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

, who also recorded it for the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of their 1987 single release of " Meet on the Ledge". It is commonly played on the

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

– Fairport Convention's fiddler

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English traditional folk musician and songwriter and one of the greatest fiddlers in the world. He was one of the most highly regarded musicians produced by the second Bri ...

showcased the tune in his touring partnership with Simon Nicol – and is also a favourite of various

fingerstyle guitar Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of guitar picking, playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with ...

ists, including Tony McManus, Joseph Chester and Pierre Bensusan. The Galician folk band Milladoiro recorded a version of this song in their 1980 debut album ''A Galicia de Maeloc''.

References

External links

"Sí Beag, Sí Mór" scores on TheSession.org
Retrieved 31 January 2016.
List of "Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór" recordings on amazon.co.uk
Retrieved 2 November 2016.
"Sí Bheag, Sí Mhór" on irishtune.info
Retrieved 2 November 2016. Irish folk songs Year of song unknown {{song-stub