Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1021 (Fisherman's Lilt)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel24ABBC Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Fisherman's Lilt
 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 MC (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):
Fisherman's Lilt, The / Fisherman's Lilt / The Fishermen's Lilt / Streanncán an Iascaire / The Kerryman's Daughter / Kerryman's Daughter / You're Right My Love / Molly, What Ails You? / Molly What Ails You? / Cunningham's Fancy / Halligan's Fancy / Michael Coleman's Dream / Funny Eye / The Pretty Girls of the Village (also in D, also singled) (compare with polka Siege of Ennis #2410; compare very distantly Fred Finn's #674; according to Breathnach, compare this with Lady Mary Lindsay; compare 2nd part with 2nd part of Old John's Jig #1465)
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
~191913#1[PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes).View album details
19271.18#1[MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle).View album details
19289#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
192818#1[BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle).View album details
197111#1[TPtts] Tommy Potts. The Liffey Banks. Tommy Potts (fiddle).View album details
19771#2[BB 3] The Bothy Band. Out of the Wind into the Sun. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle), Kevin Burke (fiddle), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (vocals, keyboards), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán, synthesizer), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (guitar).View album details
19771#4[BB 3] The Bothy Band. Out of the Wind into the Sun. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle), Kevin Burke (fiddle), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (vocals, keyboards), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán, synthesizer), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (guitar).View album details
~19791#1[FR] Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan. The Funny Reel. Traditional Music of Ireland. Joe Burke (accordion), Andy McGann (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano).View album details
~19947#2[EI 1] Eileen Ivers. Eileen Ivers. Traditional Irish Music. Eileen Ivers (fiddle, mandolin, rainstick).View album details
~200113#2[FG 6] Frankie Gavin. Fierce Traditional. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, flute).View album details
200313#1[LLPQ 2] The London Lasses and Pete Quinn. Track Across the Deep. Karen Ryan (fiddle, whistle), Elaine Conwell (fiddle), Dee Havlin (flute, whistle), Maureen Linane (accordion), Kathleen O'Sullivan (vocals).View album details
~20041#2[OMcD] Oisín Mac Diarmada. Ar an bhFidil. Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle, whistle).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 #1290 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #1413 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #1527 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #555 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #652 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 80 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. [available]
As tune #126 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1.
As tune #10 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
On page 112 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 134 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As tune #3 in [P] Brian and Eithne Vallely. Play 50 Reels.
On page 156 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As reel #12 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As reel #98 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [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
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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