Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1655 (Red-Haired Boy)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Hornpipe32AABBA Mixolydian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Red-Haired Boy
 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 FBros (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):
Red-Haired Boy, The / Red Haired Boy / The Redhaired Boy / Red Haired Lad / An Giolla Ruadh / Gilderoy / The Red-Headed Irishman / The Red Headed Irishman / The Little Beggarman / [misspelled as:] The Little Beggerman / Jolly Beggerman / [misspelled as:] Jolly Beggerman / The Old Rigadoo / An Carrowath / The First of May
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
~192115#1[FBros] The Flanagan Brothers. The Tunes We Like to Play on Paddy's Day. Joe Flanagan (accordion), Louis Flanagan (guitar, banjo), Mike Flanagan (banjo, vocals, mandolin).View album details
~19489#1[JDJO] Joe Derrane and Jerry O'Brien. Irish Accordion Masters. Joe Derrane (accordion), Jerry O'Brien (accordion).View album details
~194914#2[IDM 2] various. Past Masters of Irish Dance Music. View album details
~195821#1[TDMI] various. Traditional Dance Music of Ireland. View album details
199111#1[BF] Bards of a Feather. Homeward Way. Josh Culley (harp, whistle, flute, pipes, Highland pipes, accordion, recorder, guitar, bouzouki, bodhrán, Scottish snare, vocals), Susanna Perry (fiddle, vocals, recorder), Barry Gilmore (guitar, bouzouki, hammered dulcimer, vocals, bodhrán), David Heiser (guitar, vocals, concertina, bodhrán).View album details
~20079#2[Hmdgr] Paul Brock and Enda Scahill. Humdinger. Paul Brock (accordion), Enda Scahill (banjo, mandolin).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 #1748 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #921 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 209 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 16 of [Ba] Betty M. Barlow. Fiddle Tunes for the Violinist. [available]
On page 39 of [RW] Robin Williamson. The Penny Whistle Book. [available]
On page 227 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As tune #300 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
In [L] Alan's private loose music.
As tune #85 in [DM 2] Dave Mallinson. 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes. [available]
On page 211 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.

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
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!
Start at