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"The Threepenny Bit", in Gaelic "Cionog Tri-Pingin" or "Bonn Leat-Real", also known as
"Anderson's Reel", "Five Mile Chase", "Miss Lane's Fancy”, “My Love is on the Ocean",
"The New Mown Meadows", "Old Silver Spear", "The Silver Tip", "The Silver Spear",
"The Silver Top", "Sliabh Bána" or "The Top of the Cliff" is an Irish reel in
D Mixolydian. The parts are played AB (O'Neill/1850 & 1001) or AA'B (O'Neill/Krassen).
From the 16th to the 19th centuries a common term for a small piece of money, especially the lowest denomination of silver coin, was ‘bit’. A threepenny bit, or, in British English' "thrupenny bit" is a twelve-sided British coin of nickel-brass, valued at three old pence, obsolete since 1971. Despite the similarity in titles, this tune is not at all like "The Tenpenny Bit" which is a jig while this tune is a reel. The tune is better known today as "The New Mown Meadows", a similar setting to that printed by Francis O'Neill (1848-1936). It was printed in Krassen's O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1976), O'Neill's Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies (1903) and O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907). |