Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1021 (Fisherman's Lilt)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MC (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 24 | ABB | C Major |
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)
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.
Click 
to hear the first 12 seconds.
to hear the first 12 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1919 | 13#1 | [PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes). |
| 1927 | 1.18#1 | [MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle). |
| 1928 | 9#1 | [WW 2] The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 2. James Morrison (fiddle). |
| 1928 | 18#1 | [BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle). For this tune: James Morrison (fiddle). |
| 1971 | 11#1 | [TPtts] Tommy Potts. The Liffey Banks. Tommy Potts (fiddle). |
| 1977 | 1#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). |
| 1977 | 1#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). |
| 1978 | 14#2 | [BB 6] The Bothy Band. Live in Concert. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Matt Molloy (flute), Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Peter Browne (pipes), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (vocals, clavinet), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (vocals, guitar). |
| 1978 | 14#4 | [BB 6] The Bothy Band. Live in Concert. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Matt Molloy (flute), Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Peter Browne (pipes), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (vocals, clavinet), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (vocals, guitar). |
| ~1979 | 1#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). |
| ~1994 | 7#2 | [EI 1] Eileen Ivers. Eileen Ivers. Traditional Irish Music. Eileen Ivers (fiddle, mandolin, rainstick). For this tune: with Joanie Madden (flute). |
| ~2001 | 13#2 | [FG 6] Frankie Gavin. Fierce Traditional. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, flute). |
| 2003 | 13#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). |
| ~2003 | 5#2 | [TapRT] The Tap Room Trio. The Tap Room Trio. Harry Bradley (flute, piccolo), Jesse Smith (fiddle), John Blake (guitar, piano, flute). For this tune: Harry Bradley (flute). |
| ~2004 | 1#2 | [OMcD] Oisín Mac Diarmada. Ar an bhFidil. Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle, whistle). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune 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. |
| As tune #1413 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #1527 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #555 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #652 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| On page 80 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| 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. |
| On page 112 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| On page 134 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #3 in [P50] Brian and Eithne Vallely. Play 50 Reels. |
| On page 156 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| 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. |
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