Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 190 (Bonny Bunch of Ferns)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel16ABG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Bonny Bunch of Ferns
 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 Whr (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):
Bonny Bunch of Ferns, The / Bonny Bunch of Ferns / The Bonnie Bunch of Ferns / Private Ass and Cart / The Private Ass and Cart / Píobaire an Chéidigh / Píobaire ón Chéideadh / Piper from 'Céideadh' / The Keady Piper / Nellie O'Donovan / Nellie Donovan / Nellie Donovans / Kate Kelly's Fancy / Twin Katy's Reel / The Ravelled Hank of Yarn / Callahan's Reel / O'Keeffe's Reel / Cat that Ate the Sidecomb / Ho! Awake (3rd in set The Sister Reels on JnKlly) (also in A or D) (this tune differs consistently from Callaghan's #2636 only in the last two bars)
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
~197412#3[JD 5] John Doherty. The Floating Bow. John Doherty (fiddle).View album details
197512#3[JnKlly] John Kelly. Irish Traditional Concertina and Fiddle Music. John Kelly (concertina, fiddle).View album details
197523#3[JnKlly] John Kelly. Irish Traditional Concertina and Fiddle Music. John Kelly (concertina, fiddle).View album details
~197613#1[KClns] Kathleen Collins. Traditional Music of Ireland. Kathleen Collins (fiddle).View album details
~19951#1[Whr] Paddy Glackin and Robbie Hannan. The Whirlwind. Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Robbie Hannan (pipes).View album details
~19986#2[MMR 2] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Old Fireside Music. Mike Rafferty (flute, pipes), Mary Rafferty (accordion, whistle).View album details
~20087#3[SMTOD] Stéphanie Makem and Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn. Ceol is Píob. Stéphanie Makem (vocals), Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn (pipes).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 #1207 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #1394 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #483 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #638 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #19 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
On page 131 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 96 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As reel #61 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #72 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [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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