Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1540 (An Páistín Fionn)

Rhythm
Air
Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
An Páistín Fionn / An Paistin Fionn / An Paistín Fíonn / An Paisdín Fionn / Paisdín Fionn / An Paístin Fionn / The Little Fair Child / The Fair-haired Child / The Fair Haired Child / The Fair Haired Boy (also as song, included here, and as hornpipe #1541)
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
19695#1[Ch 2] The Chieftains. 2. Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Seán Potts (whistle), Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), Peadar Mercier (bodhrán, bones), Seán Keane (fiddle).View album details
~197911#1[Ev] Kevin Burke and Jackie Daly. Eavesdropper. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Jackie Daly (accordion, concertina).View album details
~199210#2[Sg] Scartaglen. Last Night's Fun. Irish Music in America. Kirk Lynch (pipes, whistle, etc.), Connie Dover (vocals, keyboards), Roger Landes (bouzouki etc.), Michael Dugger (fiddle etc.).View album details
~19936#1[MR 2] Micho Russell. The Limestone Rock. Micho Russell (whistle).View album details
~199610#1[GOh] Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin. Traditional Music from Clare and Beyond. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (concertina, whistle).View album details
199811#1[Chlr] Chulrua. Barefoot on the Altar. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Tim Britton (pipes, flute, whistle), Pat Egan (guitar, vocals).View album details
19998#1[Dnu 2] Danú. Think before You Think. Tom Doorley (flute, whistle), Eamon Doorley (bouzouki, mandola), Brendan McCarthy (accordion), Jesse Smith (fiddle, viola), Noel Ryan (guitar), Donnchadh Gough (bodhrán, pipes), Ciarán Ó Gealbháin (vocals).View album details
~20017#1[Lu 3] Lúnasa. The Merry Sisters of Fate. Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle), Seán Smyth (fiddle, whistle), Cillian Vallely (pipes, whistle), Donogh Hennessy (guitar, whistle), Trevor Hutchinson (double bass).View album details
~20043#1[JK 4] James Kelly. Melodic Journeys. James Kelly (fiddle).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 #21 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #22 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
On page 24 of [MR] Barbara Wygol (tunes), Jenny Loui (text). The Piper's Chair. A Collection of Tunes and Folklore from Micho Russell.

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): 1927
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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