Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1890 (Three Little Drummers)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBA Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Three Little Drummers
 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 MG (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):
Three Little Drummers, The / The Little Drummers / The Tenpenny Bit / Up Sligo / Cock in the Heath / The Geese in the Bog / The Humours of Duagh / The Jolly Old Wife / Spirits of Whiskey / Billy's Awake (2nd in set The Rocks of Bawn on WW 2) (also in E, also with an extra part either between 1st and 2nd parts or instead of the 2nd part) (compare Matt Teahan's Delight included here)
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
191810#1[JKm] John J. Kimmel. John J. Kimmel. Early Recordings of Irish Traditional Dance Music. John J. Kimmel (accordion).View album details
~191923#1[PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes).View album details
192615#2[WW 2] various. The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 2. View album details
19264#2[MG] various. Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. View album details
~19734#2[JJK] John and James Kelly with Michael Crehan and Michael Gavin. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. James Kelly (fiddle), John Kelly (fiddle).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 #969 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #189 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #102 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #20 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." [available]
On page 47 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 43 of [RW] Robin Williamson. The Penny Whistle Book. [available]
As tune #138 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As misc #26 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #274 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As jig #127 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As jig #47 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. [available]
As tune #49 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. [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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