Counterpoint in Irish Washerwoman

Irish Washerwoman is a great example of one melody which contains actually contains... two melodies!

It does this via a musical device called "counterpoint" derived from the latin: contrapunctus meaning "point of contrast" or "contrasting point".

So you can see two melodies one with stems up and the second with stems down.

One of the most famous examples of counterpoint is in the main theme to "On the Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss.