Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#161 (Blackberry Blossom)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MB 1 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | G Major |
Blackberry Blossom, The / Blackberry Blossom / Bláth na Sméire Duibhe / Blackberry Blossoms / The Strawberry Beds / The Strawberry Blossom (also in A or D or doubled)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1916 | 14#2 | [JKm] John J. Kimmel. John J. Kimmel. Early Recordings of Irish Traditional Dance Music. John J. Kimmel (accordion). |
| 1936 | 23#2 | [BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle). For this tune: James Morrison (fiddle). |
| ~1969 | 5#2 | [McDoB] The McDonaghs of Ballinafad and Friends Play Traditional Music of Sligo. Larry McDonagh (flute), Michael Joe McDonagh (fiddle), Tommy Flynn (fiddle). |
| 1975 | 4#1 | [JnKlly] John Kelly. Irish Traditional Concertina and Fiddle Music. John Kelly (concertina, fiddle). For this tune: (concertina). |
| ~1979 | 8#1 | [MB 1] Mary Bergin. Feadóga Stáin. Traditional Irish Music on the Tin Whistle. Mary Bergin (whistle). For this tune: (Eb whistle). |
| ~1979 | 4#1 | [Plx 5] Planxty. After the Break. Christy Moore (vocals, guitar, harmonium, bodhrán), Donal Lunny (blarge, guitar), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, hurdy gurdy, bouzouki), Liam O'Flynn (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle). |
| ~1986 | 16#2 | [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). For this tune: Joe Burke (accordion). |
| 1987 | 32#1 | [WmSullvn] William Sullivan. Traditional Irish Music. William Sullivan (accordion). |
| 1990 | 15#1 | [COG] Conal O Gráda. The Top of Coom. Conal Ó Gráda (flute). |
| ~1995 | 13#1 | [KC 1] Kevin Crawford. 'D' Flute Album. Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle, bodhrán). For this tune: (flute). |
| ~2002 | 5#1 | [BCw 1] Brian Conway. First through the Gate. Brian Conway (fiddle). For this tune: with Andy McGann (fiddle), Pat Mangan (fiddle). |
| ~2003 | 1#1 | [TapRT] The Tap Room Trio. The Tap Room Trio. Harry Bradley (flute, piccolo), Jesse Smith (fiddle), John Blake (guitar, piano, flute). |
| 2006 | 4#1 | [NNW] Eliot Grasso and Dave Cory. North-by-NorthWest. Eliot Grasso (pipes, flute), Dave Cory (banjo, guitar, octave mandolin). For this tune: (Eb flute, banjo). |
| 2006 | 4#1 | [TCB 4] The Tulla Céilí Band. 60th Anniversary Celebration. Mark Donnellan (fiddle), Martin Hayes (fiddle), Jim Corry (piano), Sean Donnelly (accordion), Michael McKee (accordion), J.J. Conway (flute), Jennifer Lenihan (flute), Martin Glynn (flute), Mick Flanagan (drums). For this tune: Martin Glynn (flute), Jennifer Lenihan (flute). |
| 2012 | 11#4 | [CtNGn] Caitlín Nic Gabhann. Caitlín. Caitlín Nic Gabhann (concertina, dance). |
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 #1295 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #560 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #71 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| On page 113 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #5 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen Irish Session Tunes. |
| As reel #117 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc Tunes. |
| As reel #38 in [Ng] Alan Ng. Alan Ng's Transcriptions. |
| As reel #14 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #124 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. |
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