Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 199 (Boy in the Gap)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel48AABBCCD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Boy in the Gap
 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):
Boy in the Gap, The / Boys in the Gap / The Boy in the Gaf / An Buachaill sa mBearna / The Boys of Cappoquin (3rd in set The Peacock's Feather on Dnu 5) (also singled, also only 1st part singled, also without the 3rd part composed by Paddy Taylor)
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
~19243#2[MG] various. Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. View album details
~196310#1[Ch 1] The Chieftains. The Chieftains. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina), Seán Potts (whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), David Fallon (bodhrán).View album details
199319#2[MR 5] Micho Russell. Ireland's Whistling Ambassador. Micho Russell (whistle, vocals).View album details
~19934#2[SnugBl] Paddy O'Brien, Jamie Gans, Daithi Sproule. Snug in the Blanket. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Jamie Gans (fiddle), Daithi Sproule (guitar).View album details
~200116#2[HOP] Claire Byrne, Darragh Murphy, Barry Kerr, Patrick Davey. The Humours of Piping. Claire Byrne (pipes), Darragh Murphy (pipes), Barry Kerr (pipes), Patrick Davey (pipes).View album details
20043#3[Dnu 5] Danú. When All Is Said and Done. Donal Clancy (guitar, electric bass), Donnchadh Gough (bodhrán, pipes), Tom Doorley (flute, whistle, vocals), Eamon Doorley (bouzouki, fiddle), Oisin McAuley (fiddle, vocals), Benny McCarthy (accordion), Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (vocals, whistle, flute).View album details
200614#1[MMrch 2] Marcas Ó Murchú. Turas Ceoil. Marcas Ó Murchú (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 #1364 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #617 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #132 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1.
As tune #47 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
On page 52 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. [available]
As tune #15 in volume 3 of [AW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle.
On page 126 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As reel #165 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #13 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