Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1461 (Old Hag You Have Killed Me)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBD Mixolydian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Old Hag You Have Killed Me
 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 WC 3 (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):
Old Hag You Have Killed Me / Old Hag, You Have Killed Me / Oh Hag You Have Killed Me / O Hag You Have Killed Me! / A Chailleach, do Mharaís Mé / 'Chailleach, do Mhairís Mé / 'Chailligh, Do Mhairis Mé / Stop, Old Hag, or You'll Kill Me (3rd in set Away with Ye on Ch 6) (compare Will You Come Home with Me? #2442, compare The Sheep on the Mountains / Na Caoirigh ar na Sléibhte included here from O'Neill and CRE 2 books, and compare 1st part with 1st part of The Stolen Purse in book 1001, included here)
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
19737#1[WC 3] Willie Clancy. The Pipering of Willie Clancy. Volume 2. Willie Clancy (pipes, whistle).View album details
~197514#1[PCt] Paddy Carty. Traditional Irish Music. Paddy Carty (flute).View album details
19768#1[BB 2] The Bothy Band. Old Hag You Have Killed Me. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle), Kevin Burke (fiddle), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (vocals, clavinet, harmonium), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (vocals, guitar), Donal Lunny (vocals, bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán).View album details
~19764#3[Ch 6] The Chieftains. 6. Bonaparte's Retreat. Paddy Moloney [misspelled as:] Maloney (pipes, whistle, bodhrán), Seán Potts (whistle, bodhrán), Martin Fay (fiddle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Derek Bell (harp, oboe, tiompán), Seán Keane (fiddle).View album details
~19981.12#1[WFO 1] various. Wooden Flute Obsession. 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 #831 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #344 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #95 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #41 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2.
As tune #49 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
As tune #8 in volume 3 of [AW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle.
As tune #76 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen Irish Session Tunes. [available]
As jig #86 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As jig #20 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. [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