Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1308 (Miss McDonald)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording JKn 2 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | ABCD | G Major |
Miss McDonald / Miss MacDonald / Lady Mc Donald
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1993 | 9#1 | [JKn 2] James Keane. That's the Spirit. James Keane (accordion). |
| ~1993 | 8#2 | [MB 2] Mary Bergin. Feadóga Stáin 2. Mary Bergin (whistle). |
| ~1999 | 15#2 | [Trc] Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin and Patrick Ourceau. Tracin'. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (concertina), Patrick Ourceau (fiddle). |
| ~2002 | 13#4 | [CaBrdg] Niall and Cillian Vallely. Callan Bridge. Niall Vallely (concertina), Cillian Vallely (pipes, whistle). For this tune: (pipes), (concertina). |
| ~2002 | 1#3 | [PJCJC] P.J. Crotty, Carol Cullinan, James Cullinan. Happy to Meet. P.J. Crotty (flute), James Cullinan (fiddle), Carol Cullinan (piano). |
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 #1210 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #486 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| On page 98 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #46 in [P50] Brian and Eithne Vallely. Play 50 Reels. |
| On page 36 of [SK] Sean Keane. Fifty Fiddle Solos. |
| As reel #371 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