Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1835 (Stirling Castle)

Rhythm ?Bars8-bar phrase structureMode ?
Fling16ABD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Stirling Castle
 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 JDJO (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Stirling Castle / Sterling Castle / The Grey Daylight (also doubled, also as strathspey; in O'Neill books as reel)

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
19317#2[IDM 2] various. Past Masters of Irish Dance Music. View album details
~195321#2[JDJO] Joe Derrane and Jerry O'Brien. Irish Accordion Masters. Joe Derrane (accordion), Jerry O'Brien (accordion).View album details
197428#1[JD 3] John Doherty. The Celebrated Recordings. John Doherty (fiddle, vocals).View album details
~197610#2[AMPR] Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds. Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds. Andy McGann (fiddle), Paddy Reynolds (fiddle).View album details
19912#1[FS] various. Fiddle Sticks. Irish Traditional Music from Donegal. View album details
~19983#1[BG 5] Bobby Gardiner. The Clare Shout. Bobby Gardiner (accordion, lilting).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 #1372 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #22 in [Sc] Scottish Fiddle Tunes. [available]
On page 127 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]

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