Ahoy everyone. I’ve been playing this tune ever since I heard it several times on a trip I took years ago. I have no idea what its name is, or what band I heard playing it. My group recently decided to put together an album to sell at gigs and online, so I’d like to find out if the tune is traditional or copyrighted. A sample recording can be found here: http://members.byond.com/iainperegrine/files/irish_thing_accompanied.wma
Thanks for the prompt reply. I’ve searched through the several tune finding resources listed in the FAQ</a](http://nwparalegal.com/ITM/FAQ.html">FAQ</a)>, but I can’t find anything similar for “Boyle”, “Lancer”, or “Boyle Lancer”, and google can’t find anything relevant, either.
Wikipedia also has a trivia note about the tune which is relevant to your question regarding recording and reuse:
The appropriately-titled waltz “The Wedding Gift”, recorded first on *Reel ‘N’ Roll, was written by Dave Panting as a wedding present for Ian McKinnon and his bride. The band received so many requests from couples who wished to use the tune as their own wedding waltz, according to Panting in a CBC Radio interview, that he gave blanket permission for any such use without any royalties payable except that users were asked to send Panting a picture from the wedding. He says this resulted in a deluge of postcards from all over the world.
Good call! I recorded someone playing it in St John’s at a session last summer and heard the story about it then. I actually played at a couple of sessions where Dave was playing that week, but I don’t think I heard him play the tune.
