Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1665 (Reel with the Beryl)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MR 2 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | E Dorian |
Reel with the Beryl, The / The Reel with the Beryle / The Reel with the Birl in It / The Reel with the Birl / Reel with the Birl / The Reel with the Burl / The Lady's Bonnet / Craith na Cleiteacha / Toss the Feathers / Drowsy Maggie / Drowsey Maggie (also singled, also in A) (compare 1st part with 1st part of Toss the Feathers #1957 and with 1st part of Drowsy Maggie #545)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 1#2 | [ECr] Elizabeth Crotty. Concertina Music from West Clare. Elizabeth Crotty (concertina). |
| ~1967 | 18#1 | [PKlly] Patrick Kelly. Patrick Kelly From Cree. Fiddle Music. Patrick Kelly (fiddle). |
| ~1977 | 4#1 | [FG 1] Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn. Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, whistle), Alec Finn (bouzouki). |
| ~1978 | 11#2 | [Ch 8] The Chieftains. 8. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Seán Potts (whistle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Martin Fay (fiddle, bones), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Derek Bell (harp, tiompán), Kevin Conneff (bodhrán). |
| ~1993 | 5#2 | [MR 2] Micho Russell. The Limestone Rock. Micho Russell (whistle). |
| ~1993 | 2.15#2 | [WFO 1] Wooden Flute Obsession. Micho Russell (Eb flute). |
| ~1995 | 5#3 (2:21) | [JW 1] John Williams. John Williams. John Williams (accordion, concertina). For this tune: (concertina), with Micho Russell (whistle). |
| 1997 | 6#2 | [MH 3] Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill. The Lonesome Touch. Martin Hayes (fiddle), Dennis Cahill (guitar). |
| ~1998 | 8#3 | [BG 5] Bobby Gardiner. The Clare Shout. Bobby Gardiner (melodeon, lilting). For this tune: (D melodeon). |
| 2009 | 8#2 | [RoClare] Riches of Clare. Tony Linnane, Jim O'Connor, Mick Conneely, Johnny 'Ringo' McDonagh. |
| 2012 | 13#2 | [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 #195 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| As tune #28 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. |
| On page 7 of [SK] Sean Keane. Fifty Fiddle Solos. |
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): 1960