Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1855 (Swallow's Tail)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MC (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | A Dorian |
Swallow's Tail, The / The Swallow's Tail Reel / Swallow's Tail Reel / Swallows Tail / Swallowtail Reel / Swallow Tail / Drioball na Fáinleoige / Ruball na Fáinleoige / The Swallowtail Coat / The Old Swallow Reel / The Steeple Chase / The Steeplechase / Take Your Hand Away / The Queen's Wedding / Bainis na Banríona / 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 Village Reel / The Sligo Maid (1st in set Irish Reels on OTUS1; 1st in set Flanagans at Dinty Moore's on OTUS2; for dance The Sixteen Hand Reel in book MM) (also in E Dorian, D Dorian, A Mixolydian, or B Minor; also singled; also as hornpipe The Pigeon's Tail in book R) (compare #1265)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1904 | 2.14#1 | [FONC] The Francis O'Neill Cylinders. Thirty-two Recordings of Irish Traditional Music in America circa 1904. John McFadden (fiddle). |
| ~1919 | 11#2 | [PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes). |
| 1920 | 20#1 | [OTUS1] Oldtime Records. Vol. 1. U.S. Recordings. Traditional Irish Recordings from the 1920's and 1930's. Tom Ennis (pipes). |
| 1926 | 7#1 | [OTUS2] Oldtime Records. Vol. 2. U.S. Recordings. Traditional Irish Recordings from 1923 to 1947. Joe Flanagan (C melodeon). |
| 1927 | 6#1 | [OTUS2] Oldtime Records. Vol. 2. U.S. Recordings. Traditional Irish Recordings from 1923 to 1947. Frank Quinn (fiddle). |
| 1927 | 1.24#2 | [MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle). |
| 1929 | 7#2 | [IDM 1] Irish Dance Music. "K. Scanlon". |
| 1929 | 10#2 | [MG] Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. "K. Scanlon" (fiddle). |
| ~1949 | 6#1 | [ICTM] Ireland. Irlande. Mickey Doherty (fiddle). |
| 1952 | 14#2 | [KF] Padraig O'Keefe, Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford. Kerry Fiddles. Padraig O'Keefe (fiddle), Denis Murphy (fiddle), Julia Clifford (fiddle). For this tune: O'Keeffe, Murphy, Clifford. |
| 1952 | 25#2 | [RshMtn] The Rushy Mountain. Pádraig O'Keeffe (fiddle), Denis Murphy (fiddle), Julia Clifford (fiddle). |
| ~1956 | 8#2 | [Rnys] The Raineys. The Raineys. Paddy Rainey (fiddle), Stephen Rainey (fiddle), Bridie 'Biddy' Rainey (vocals). For this tune: Paddy Rainey (fiddle). |
| ~1960 | 2.2#2 | [JV] John Vesey. Sligo Fiddler. John Vesey (fiddle). |
| ~1975 | 14#1 | [PK 1] Paddy Keenan. Paddy Keenan. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle, low whistle). For this tune: Thomas Keenan (whistle). |
| ~1977 | 3#1 | [DODnl] Danny O'Donnell. Ón tSean-Am Anall. Danny O'Donnell (fiddle). |
| 1987 | 15#1 | [WmSullvn] William Sullivan. Traditional Irish Music. William Sullivan (accordion). |
| ~1995 | 14#1 | [WatReeds] Tommy Keane, Jacqueline McCarthy, with Alec Finn. The Wind among the Reeds. Tommy Keane (pipes, whistle), Jacqueline McCarthy (concertina). For this tune: Jacqueline McCarthy (concertina). |
| ~1996 | 4#1 | [PCln] Pat Cloonan. Pat Cloonan's Thanksgiving. Patrick Cloonan (accordion). For this tune: with Martin Hayes (fiddle). |
| ~1998 | 12#2 | [BG 5] Bobby Gardiner. The Clare Shout. Bobby Gardiner (melodeon, lilting). For this tune: (D melodeon). |
| ~1998 | 1#1 | [JCnly 2] Johnny Connolly. Drioball na Fáinleoige. Johnny Connolly (melodeon, accordion, vocals). For this tune: (melodeon). |
| ~1999 | 1#2 | [JOH 1] John O'Halloran. "But Why, Johnny?". John O'Halloran (accordion). For this tune: (D melodeon), with Martin Murray (viola). |
| ~2002 | 6#2 | [TMIYD] Ronan Browne and Peter O'Loughlin. Touch Me If You Dare. Ronan Browne (pipes, flute), Peter O'Loughlin (fiddle, flute). For this tune: (pipes), (fiddle). |
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 #1268 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #536 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #174 in volume 3 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| As tune #45 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| On page 108 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| On page 270 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
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