Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1855 (Swallow's Tail Reel)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBA Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Swallow's Tail Reel
 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).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Swallow's Tail Reel, The / The Swallow's Tail / Swallows Tail / Swallowtail Reel / Swallow Tail / The Swallowtail Coat / The Steeple Chase / The Steeplechase / Take Your Hand Away / The Family Estate / The Girl with the Handsome Face / Joshua Grey / McKenna's / Miss Wright's / Mollie's Bonnet / Molloy's Nightcap / The Pride of the Ball / The Queen's Wedding / The Village Reel (for dance The Sixteen Hand Reel in book MM) (also singled, also as hornpipe The Pigeon's Tail in book R) (compare #1265)
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
~191911#2[PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes).View album details
19271.24#2[MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle).View album details
19297#2[IDM 1] various. Irish Dance Music. View album details
192910#2[MG] various. Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. View album details
~19496#1[ICTM] various. Ireland. Irlande. View album details
195214#2[KF] Padraig O'Keefe, Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford. Kerry Fiddles. Padraig O'Keefe (fiddle), Denis Murphy (fiddle), Julia Clifford (fiddle).View album details
~19568#2[Rnys] The Raineys. The Raineys. Paddy Rainey (fiddle), Stephen Rainey (fiddle), Bridie 'Biddy' Rainey (vocals).View album details
~197514#1[PK 1] Paddy Keenan. Paddy Keenan. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle, low whistle).View album details
~19964#1[PCln] Pat Cloonan. Pat Cloonan's Thanksgiving. Patrick Cloonan (accordion).View album details
~199812#2[BG 5] Bobby Gardiner. The Clare Shout. Bobby Gardiner (accordion, lilting).View album details
~99991[1] various. Alan's personal session tapes.

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 #1268 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #536 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #174 in volume 3 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #45 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." [available]
On page 108 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 270 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As misc #38 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #11 in [DM 2] Dave Mallinson. 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes. [available]
On page 60 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition.
On page 325 of [CITM] Fintan Vallely. The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. [available]
On page 104 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As reel #325 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [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
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!
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