In Joe's last few days, in his hospital bed, his nephew Vince visited him and asked how many tunes he had composed. At the time, Joe couldn't speak (he had throat cancer) instead he confidentially held up 10 fingers. When asked how many he had named, Joe held up two fingers - after which he wrote the titles on a piece of paper - Miss Grace MacKenzie and Peter MacKay.

Although we can't verify which ones are his compositions, a number of mystery tunes showed up in Joe's repertoire and at the time of publication I thought the above tune may been one of those untitled creations. After publication John Donald Cameron made me aware of the similarity to a Marshall's composition called Mrs. Ross

i. Joe MacLean, Old Time Scottish Fiddle Music from Cape Breton Island, recorded 1977, posthumously issued to CD 1998.

 from - The Cape Breton Scottish Collection

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