The Wise Maid

Reel, D, Traditional Irish
Also known as: The Wise Maid Who Never got Married

Who is the wise maid in the title of this traditional Irish reel? There’s no telling. It could be that the tune’s name is in appreciation of all wise maids. The longer title of the tune is “The Wise Maid who Never got Married.”

Recordings

• Audio – Comhaltas: Wise Maid – session recording. From the album Foinn Seisiún Volume 1.
• Video – Tulla Ceili Band: Cooley’s/The Cup Of Tea/The Wise Maid (Reels) – from the album A Celebration of 50 Years
• Video – Dulahan Ireland: The Wise Maid – played on tenor banjo

Sheet Music

As always for traditional tunes, the musical notation and chords do not indicate the “right” way to play the tune, but are a useful reference.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Monaghan Maid Reel Set: The Monaghan Twig (A Mixolydian) / Rakish Paddy (D Mixolydian) / The Wise Maid (D)
• Cooley’s / The Cup of Tea / The Wise Maid
• The Wise Maid / The Swallow’s Tail / The Gravel Walks
• Cooley’s Reel / Wise Maid / Bird in the Bush
• Maid Behind the Bar / Maid of Mount Kisco / Wise Maid

References and Resources

For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.

• More Recordings
  • Video – Pat Barton Accordion: The Wise Maid – Irish traditional reel on button accordion
  • Video – Rafe Stefanini & David Bragger: The Wise Maid – played on fiddle and 5-string banjo in old-time American style. From the album Holy Smoke!

• Lessons
  • Lesson – Shannon Heaton: Learning Irish Flute – Tune of the Month with Shannon Heaton – Wise Maid [Reel] – Tune played up to speed on flute with guitar backing, and then taught phrase by phrase on flute.
  • Lesson – Tergal14 Mandolin: Irish mandolin lessons. The Wise Maid (reel) – demonstration of the tune played on mandolin, then broken down into parts and taught with tab.

• Books
  • Book – Foinn Seisiún, Volume 1 — Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. 
  • Book – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Book – Gary Coover: 75 Irish Session Tunes for Anglo Concertina (Rollston Press). 
  • Book & Audio – Matt & Shannon Heaton: In Harmony 
• Other Resources
  • Webpage – The Session: The Wise Maid (Reel) – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and other information.
  • Webpage – Slowplayers.org – The Wise Maid (D) – sheet music, play-along tracks (on mandolin), and historical information about the tune.