Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1857 (Sweeney's Buttermilk)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBB Minor
Transcription of first 2 bars of Sweeney's Buttermilk
 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 Ch B (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):
Sweeney's Buttermilk / Buttermilk Mary / Charlie Lennon's / Charlie Lennon's No. 2 / Charlie's Buttermilk Mary / McGlinchey's / McGlinchy's / Scarce o' Taties (composed by Brendan McGlinchy aka Brendan McGlinchey)
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
~19795#3[Ch B] The Chieftains. 9. Boil the Breakfast Early. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Martin Fay (fiddle, bones), Derek Bell (harp, tiompán), Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle).View album details
~19885#2[SW] Silly Wizard. Live Wizardry. View album details
19922#4[BMu 2] Brendan Mulvihill, Donna Long. The Morning Dew. Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), Donna Long (piano).View album details
19984#3[CFF 2] Kevin Burke / Johnny Cunningham / Christian Lemaître / Soïg Siberil. Celtic Fiddle Festival Encore. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Johnny Cunningham (fiddle), Christian Lemaître (fiddle), Soïg Siberil (guitar).View album details
~19989#3[Cltri 3] Ceoltori. Women of Ireland. Karen Ashbrook (hammered dulcimer, flute, whistle), Connie McKenna (vocals, guitar), Sue Richards (harp).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 #14 in volume 4 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
As tune #34 in [DM 1] Dave Mallinson. 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes. [available]
On page 62 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition.
On page 105 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As reel #36 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): 1974
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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