About this tune

There are essentially three "Pigeon on the Gate/Gatepost" tunes - an E-"modal" version, an A-modal version and a G-modal version, all of which originated in Ireland. The E-modal version is the only one of the three still widely played in the contemporary world-Celtic scene. The A-modal version - represented on this site by two variants - "Pigeon on the Gatepost" and "Pride of the Ball" - is quite widespread on PEI. The G-modal version is heard occasionally on PEI and more often on Cape Breton; it was published early in the 20th century in Allan's Irish Fiddler.