Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1274 (Merry Old Woman)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Merry Old Woman
 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 IDM 1 (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):
Merry Old Woman, The / Merry Old Woman / The Merry Old Woman Jig / The Mouse in the Cupboard / Repeal of the Union / The Walls of Enniscorthy / Ballaí Lios Chearbhaill / The Walls of Liscarroll / The Rakes of Newcastle West / Wollop the Potlid / Duignan's Odd Jig
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
193217#2[IDM 1] various. Irish Dance Music. View album details
19511.20#2[MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals).View album details
~19885#3[Boys 14] Boys of the Lough. Sweet Rural Shade. Aly Bain (fiddle), Cathall McConnell (flute, whistle, vocals), Dave Richardson (concertina, mandolin, cittern), Christy O'Leary (pipes, whistle, vocals), John Coakley (guitar, piano).View album details
~20021#2[Boh 3] Bohola. Bohola. Jimmy Keane (piano accordion), Sean Cleland (fiddle, viola, baritone fiddle), Pat Broaders (dordan, bouzouki, vocals).View album details
~20037#1[MMlvy] Mick Mulvey. Within a Mile o' Jamestown. Mick Mulvey (flute).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 #799 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #800 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #72 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #80 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #81 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #8 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." [available]
As tune #10 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1.
On page 24 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As tune #10 in [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. [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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