Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1003 (Jolly Tinker)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel40ABCDEA Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Jolly Tinker
 about these two bars

These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording BtB (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Jolly Tinker, The / Tiampan Reel (also with 5th part 1st, or without 5th part) (compare The Hen and Her Clutch #2810 and The Jolly Tinker #1002; compare 3rd and 5th parts with Tinker's Reel #4503; compare 1st part with 2nd part of Tinker's Frolic #4518)
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd Discography

Here are all recordings of this tune considering only the indexed recordings. I have discovered by careful listening that these sources are in fact musically the same tune, regardless of the tune titles they use, key changes, retuning, etc. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.

Year
Recorded
Track
#Tune
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). Album details
and contents
192913#1[WW 1] various. The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 1. View album details
19363#1[WW 2] various. The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 2. View album details
19362#1[BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle).View album details
~195616#2[Rnys] The Raineys. The Raineys. Paddy Rainey (fiddle), Stephen Rainey (fiddle), Bridie 'Biddy' Rainey (vocals).View album details
19678#1[PitS] various. Paddy in the Smoke. Martin Byrnes (fiddle), Danny Meehan (fiddle), Bobby Casey (fiddle), Tony McMahon (accordion), Andy Boyle (fiddle), Jimmy Power (fiddle), Jimmy Dunleavy (fiddle), Sean O'Shea (fiddle), Con Curtin (fiddle), Denis McMahon (fiddle), Julia Clifford (fiddle), Tommy Maguire (accordion), Father O'Keeffe (mandolin), Lucy Farr (fiddle), Edmond Murphy (fiddle).View album details
19918#5[Ch AIE] The Chieftains. An Irish Evening. Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast. Martin Fay (fiddle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals), Matt Molloy (flute), Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Derek Bell (harp, tiompán, keyboards).View album details
199613#2[AW] Paddy Reynolds, Charlie Mulvihill, James Keane, with Felix Dolan. Atlantic Wave. Paddy Reynolds (fiddle), Charlie Mulvihill (accordion), James Keane (accordion).View album details
199812#2[KB IC] Kevin Burke. In Concert. Kevin Burke (fiddle).View album details
20035#3[Tda 2] Téada. Give Us a Penny and Let Us Be Gone. Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle, vocals), John Blake (flute, guitar), Paul Finn (accordion, concertina), Seán McElwain (banjo, bouzouki), Tristan Rosenstock (bodhrán, vocals).View album details
~200611#1[MMcG 3] Michael McGoldrick. Wired. Michael McGoldrick (flute, whistle, pipes, mandolin, bodhrán).View album details

Bibliography

Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – considering only the indexed books – listed in chronological order. I have discovered by careful comparison that these are very similar to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.

As tune #1535 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #751 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 158 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 35 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition.
On page 56 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As reel #158 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #20 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [available]

If you are considering using the above transcriptions to help you learn this tune, I invite you to check these practical Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music. See also: So why do you bother indexing books and abc?

Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1903