Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1714 (Saddle the Pony)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording JDJO (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double jig | 32 | AABB | G Major |
Saddle the Pony / Saddle and Pony / Cuir Diallait ar an gCapaillín / The Priest's Leap / The Red Stockings / The Red Stocking / A Draught of Ale / A Boy From Home (for The Haymaker's Jig in book MM) (compare 1st part with 1st part of A Draught of Ale #5025)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1948 | 15#1 | [JDJO] Joe Derrane and Jerry O'Brien. Irish Accordion Masters. Joe Derrane (accordion), Jerry O'Brien (accordion). For this tune: O'Brien. |
| ~1969 | 20#1 | [McDoB] The McDonaghs of Ballinafad and Friends Play Traditional Music of Sligo. Larry McDonagh (flute), Michael Joe McDonagh (fiddle), Tommy Flynn (fiddle). |
| ~1977 | 21#2 | [ECst] Traditional Irish Music in America. The East Coast. Mike Preston (flute), Jack Coen (flute), Charlie Coen (concertina). |
| ~1997 | 2#1 | [SHernon] Seán Hernon. An Nóra Bheag. Seán Hernon (Eb whistle, banjo). |
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 #912 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #1 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| On page 41 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #231 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| As misc #46 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| In [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| In [FMH] Tom Hastings. The Feis Musicians Handbook [sic]. |
| On page 178 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As jig #112 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #169 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
| As tune #35 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. |
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