I think I mentioned that the key of A is often favoured by Scottish and Cape Breton fiddle players - I've been told this by several good fiddlers, but I don't have other evidence than this. So, in this particular instance, this particular key would suit the musical locale. It's not the easiest key for the fiddle in terms of playing in first position - and many folk fiddlers, in England at any rate, seem reluctant to move away from first position by comparison.

I have to say that the most popular keys at sessions I attend - all in the Sussex area - are D and G. It may be different elsewhere, and I'd be very interested in comments from dedicated fiddle players (which I'm not - just amateur!). Interestingly, one of the prime movers in some of our sessions is a small pipes player, and a lot of the stuff he plays is in D. We do the "Marquis Of Lorne" in D, for example - but I've seen it written in tunebooks in G...