Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 197 (Lord McDonald)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel16ABG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Lord McDonald
 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 JW 1 (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):
Lord McDonald / Lord McDonald's Reel / Lord MacDonald's Reel / Lord MacDonald's / McDonald's Reel / MacDonald's Reel / John McDonald's Reel / The Glentaun Reel / Glentown / Bothar na Sop / Little Peggy / Slanty Gart / Leather Britches / Old Leather Britches (also doubled) (compare the 4-part setting as #1157)
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
~196918#2[SatG] Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford. The Star above the Garter. Fiddle music from Kerry, played by Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford. Denis Murphy (fiddle), Julia Clifford (fiddle).View album details
~19955#1[JW 1] John Williams. John Williams. John Williams (accordion, concertina).View album details
~200216#2[MaRaf] Mary Rafferty. Hand-Me-Downs. Mary Rafferty (accordion, concertina, flute, whistle).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 #1408 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #649 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #31 in volume 4 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
On page 166 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
On page 176 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As tune #21 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen 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!
Start at