Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1715 (Sailor on the Rock)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | D Major |
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):
Sailor on the Rock, The / An Mairnéalach ar an gCarraig / Maraí ar an gCarraig / Johnny with the Queer Thing / The Storyteller (commonly singled) (compare 2nd part with 2nd part of Boyne Hunt #200)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1922 | 2.11#1 | [MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle). |
| 1972 | 11#1 | [JC] Joe Cooley. Cooley. Joe Cooley (accordion). |
| ~1973 | 1#4 | [Ch 3] The Chieftains. 3. Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Seán Potts (whistle), Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Peadar Mercier (bodhrán, bones). |
| ~1974 | 14#3 | [KCB 3] [The Kilfenora Ceili Band]. [The Kilfenora Céilí Band]. |
| ~1976 | 3#2 | [AMPR] Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds. Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds. Andy McGann (fiddle), Paddy Reynolds (fiddle). |
| 1986 | 7#1 | [TJC] Frankie Gavin and Paul Brock. Ómós do Joe Cooley. A Tribute to Joe Cooley. Frankie Gavin (fiddle), Paul Brock (accordion). |
| ~1989 | 10#2 | [FG 3] Frankie Gavin. Frankie Goes to Town. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, flute). |
| ~1991 | 1#2 | [GOC 1] Gerry O'Connor. Time to Time. Gerry O'Connor (banjo, guitar, fiddle). |
| 1994 | 5#3 | [MvC 1] Moving Cloud. Moving Cloud. Paul Brock (accordion), Maeve Donnelly (fiddle, viola), Manus McGuire (fiddle), Kevin Crawford (flute and percussion), Carl Hession (piano). |
| ~1994 | 1#1 | [JCt 1] John Carty and Brian McGrath. The Cat that Ate the Candle. John Carty (banjo, fiddle), Brian McGrath (piano, banjo). |
| 2001 | 14#1 | [JCrv] John Creaven. The Story So Far. John Creaven (flute). |
| ~2003 | 13#2 | [KitRec] Seán O'Driscoll and Larry Egan. The Kitchen Recordings. Seán O'Driscoll (banjo, bouzouki), Larry Egan (accordion). |
| 2006 | 1#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). |
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 #1294 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #559 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| On page 101 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| As tune #5 in volume 3 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols. |
| On page 113 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| On pages 39, 53, 67 of [TS] Tony DeMarco and Miles Krassen. A Trip to Sligo. A Comprehensive Guide to the Art of Irish Fiddling, Sligo-Style. |
| In [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition. |
| As tune #56 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen Irish Session Tunes. |
| On page 92 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As reel #298 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
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