Category Archives: Tune
The Arran Boat (Edor)
“The Arran Boat” is in waltz time  here (3/4), but it might be notated differently elsewhere. Played best as a slow air or waltz, depending on who’s playing it, it is an old traditional Scottish tune named for the isle of Arran, the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland.  The isle of […]
The Derry Air (G)
The “The Derry Air” is a well-known tune, and often requested by listeners at sessions. The first published version of this tune is in George Petrie’s collection, entitled Ancient Music of Ireland (1855) where he gives the name as “Londonderry Air” — and which you choose to call it is a matter of politics. It […]
CĂşil Aodha (A)
The “CĂşil Aodha” polka, pronounced either Kool-Ay or Kool-əə, is a Munster polka named after a township high in the Derrynasaggart Mountains, in the Gaeltacht region of Muskerry, County Cork, which is near the home of composer, lecturer Seán Ă“ Riada (1931- 1971). Aodha is an Irish name, close to the name Ed (É™th), but […]
The ÂŁ42 Cheque (D)
This tune title, “The ÂŁ42 Cheque,” was used by Planxty on their LP Cold Blow and A Rainy Night (1974), but it has also been called “the four pound check,” and “the fourty-five pound check.” Though some people argue that it’s an old piece, and the different amounts given to the check are the result […]
The Sporting Pitchfork (G)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
“The Sporting Pitchfork”  is the second of the well-known “Pitchforks” on the Glackin/Keenan album Doublin’ (1978), the first being “The Rambling Pitchfork” — and the album/CD is a real gem!  While the first (double) jig of the set refers to an itinerant farm-laborer, this one refers to a friendly farm-laborer, a sport (however you picture such a […]
The Rambling Pitchfork (D)
“The Rambling Pitchfork” was made popular by the Felix Doran’s acetate recording in 1949, now available on the CD The Master Pipers,Volume 1 (2003). The title “Rambling Pitchfork” refers to an itinerant farm-laborer, in the same sense that “hired gun” refers to a mercenary – i.e., the main implement of one’s occupation is used as […]
The Teetotaler’s (G)
This tune is most often called “The Teetotaler’s Reel” in Irish sessions, but is also popularly known as “The Temperance Reel” among old-time and bluegrass players, and is much less popularly known as “Prohibition, My Foot!”  This tune starts off like a few others, and doesn’t really distinguish itself until the third measure, where it […]
(The) Leslie’s Reel (A)   Â
The tune “Leslie’s Reel” has a set of versions, though I don’t know which came first. One close version is called “Monymusk,” named after a town close to Aberdeenshire, Scotland; another version is called “The Teileann Reel” (or “The Teelin Reel”) named after the village of Teileann in co. Donegal – a small coastal village on […]
Chief O’Neill’s Favourite (D)
Chief O’Neill, the eponym of this tune, “Chief O’Neill’s Favourite,” was Francis O’Neill (1848-1936), born in county Cork. He was a cabin-boy on an English merchant ship in the 1860s, eventually immigrating to the States. He moved to Chicago with his wife and joined the police force at the age of 25. He became the […]