I know this tune as a French Canadian reel, but I think it’s also played in Scotland as The Grand Chain. I don’t now who had it first. I learned it at Midwest Banjo Camp from Cathy Barton Para. It’s curious that a guy from Ontario would go to Michigan to learn a French Canadian tune from a Missouri banjo player, but c’est la vie, eh.

I heard a French Canadian fiddle version of this that is way way faster than I can play it. It makes me want to work on my speed though. I think in Quebec it would more likely be fiddle and piano or possibly fiddle and accordion rather than banjo, but it’s a fun one to play on banjo. Cathy Barton and Dave Para also do a great version of this tune on their recent Carp Fishing in Missouri recording, with Cathy playing hammered dulcimer.