Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1622 (Queen of May)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | E Dorian |
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 MC (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Queen of May, The / Banríon Bhealtaine / Banríon na Bealtaine / Kitty Losty's Reel / The Tap Room (structure varies)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | 1.22#2 | [MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle). |
| ~1963 | 5#2 | [Ch 1] The Chieftains. The Chieftains. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina), Seán Potts (whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), David Fallon (bodhrán). |
| ~1991 | 14#2 | [PG 2] Paddy Glackin. Rabharta Ceoil. In Full Spate. Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán). |
| ~2002 | 8#2 | [BRny 2] Brian Rooney. Leitrim to London. Brian Rooney (fiddle, accordion). |
| ~2007 | 12#2 | [PHGH 2] Peter Horan and Gerry Harrington. The Merry Love to Play. Peter Horan (flute), Gerry Harrington (fiddle). |
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 #1221 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #498 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #197 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| On page 100 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #25 in [SIMB] Tony Sullivan. Sully's Irish Music Book. |
| As reel #10 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. |
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