Tune of the Day: The Kinnegad Slashers
The title of this tune is believed to honor an Irish yeomanry unit called the Kinnegad Cavalry, who, on July 11, 1798, found themselves in defense of the Irish village of Clonard. The attack was repulsed and the attackers dispersed, whereupon the cavalry of the Kinnegad Yeomen pursued them with much slaughter. Their success in this engagement earned them the sobriquet of Kinnegad Slashers.
Some see resemblances to the Scottish tune usually known as “Kenmure's On and Awa'”, but the relationship seems more distant than with other more closely related tunes.
O'Neill, in Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922), proposed this tune as the antecedent of the popular “Turkey in the Straw”. However, while there is some resemblance in the first part, the relationship is seen by most as incidental and not relational.