Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1054 (Kitty Gone a Milking)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | G Major |

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 AIC2 (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Kitty Gone a Milking / Kitty Gone a' Milking / Kitty Gone A-Milking / Kitty Gone a'Milking / Kitty's Gone a Milking / Kitty's Gone A-Milking / Kitty's Gone a' Milking / Kitty's Gone a'Milking / Kitty Goes a Milking / Kitty Goes A-Milking / Tá Citî ar Shiúil ag Crú Léi (also doubled, also only 2nd part doubled, also in Mixolydian)
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.
| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| 1938 | 7#1 | [IFM] various. Past Masters of Irish Fiddle Music. |
| ~1959 | 5#1 | [AIC1] Paddy Canny, P.J. Hayes, Peadar O'Loughlin, Bridie Lafferty. An Historic Recording of Irish Traditional Music from County Clare and East Galway. Paddy Canny (fiddle), P.J. Hayes (fiddle). |
| ~1959 | 1#1 | [AIC2] Paddy Canny. Meet Paddy Canny. All-Ireland Champion - Violin. Paddy Canny (fiddle). |
| 1960 | 3#1 | [ECr] Elizabeth Crotty. Concertina Music from West Clare. Elizabeth Crotty (concertina). |
| ~1963 | 11#5 | [Ch 1] The Chieftains. The Chieftains. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina), Seán Potts (whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), David Fallon (bodhrán). |
| 1967 | 10#1 | [BC 3] Bobby Casey. The Spirit of West Clare. Bobby Casey (fiddle, whistle). |
| 1973 | 15#1 | [WC 3] Willie Clancy. The Pipering of Willie Clancy. Volume 2. Willie Clancy (pipes, whistle). |
| 1974 | 4#1 | [JD 3] John Doherty. The Celebrated Recordings. John Doherty (fiddle, vocals). |
| ~1979 | 14#1 | [MB 1] Mary Bergin. Feadóga Stáin. Traditional Irish Music on the Tin Whistle. Mary Bergin (whistle). |
| ~1986 | 8#1 | [HMSP] Joe Burke, Michael Cooney, Terry Corcoran. Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part. Joe Burke (accordion), Michael Cooney (pipes, whistle), Terry Corcoran (guitar, vocals). |
| ~1995 | 15#2 | [Whr] Paddy Glackin and Robbie Hannan. The Whirlwind. Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Robbie Hannan (pipes). |
| ~1998 | 1#1 | [KH] Kieran Hanrahan. Kieran Hanrahan Plays the Irish Tenor Banjo. Kieran Hanrahan (banjo). |
| 1999 | 12#3 | [GCJR] Gerard Commane and Joe Ryan with Eoin O'Neill. Two Gentlemen of Clare Music. Gerard Commane (concertina), Joe Ryan (fiddle). |
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 #31 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. |
| As tune #25 in volume 1 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols. |
| As reel #99 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| On page 34 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| As reel #170 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #2 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
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): 1938
