Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#199 (Boy in the Gap)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 48 | AABBCC | D Major |
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).
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)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1924 | 3#2 | [MG] various. Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. |
| ~1963 | 10#1 | [Ch 1] The Chieftains. The Chieftains. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina), Seán Potts (whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), David Fallon (bodhrán). |
| 1993 | 19#2 | [MR 5] Micho Russell. Ireland's Whistling Ambassador. Micho Russell (whistle, vocals). |
| ~1993 | 4#2 | [SnugBl] Paddy O'Brien, Jamie Gans, Daithi Sproule. Snug in the Blanket. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Jamie Gans (fiddle), Daithi Sproule (guitar). |
| ~2001 | 16#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). |
| 2004 | 3#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). |
| 2006 | 14#1 | [MMrch 2] Marcas Ó Murchú. Turas Ceoil. Marcas Ó Murchú (flute, whistle). |
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. |
| As tune #617 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| 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. |
| On page 52 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| On page 29 of [LPUP] Eithne and Brian Vallely. Learn to Play the Uilleann Pipes. |
| As tune #15 in volume 3 of [LPTW] Eithne Vallely. Learn to Play the Tin Whistle. |
| On page 126 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| 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. |
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