Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#203 (Boys of Ballinahinch)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording WW 2 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | D Major |
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Boys of Ballinahinch, The / The Boys of Ballynahinch / The Boys of Baile na hÍnse / Humors of Ballinahinch / Mullin's Fancy / Mullin's Fancy / Mullins' Fancy / Mullins Fancy / Mullen's Fancy / Malynn's Fancy / The Strawberry Blossom / The Strawberry Blossom No. 1 / Strawberry Blossom / Packie Dolan's / Flowers of Red Hill (2nd in set North Sea Crossing on Sld 1) (also in G) (compare single jig Christmas Eve #2638)
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.
Click 
to hear the first 10 seconds.
to hear the first 10 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| 1928 | 1#1 | [WW 2] The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 2. Packie Dolan (fiddle). |
| ~1977 | 7#2 | [AM] Andy McGann and Paul Brady. It's A Hard Road to Travel. Andy McGann (fiddle), Paul Brady (guitar). |
| ~1980 | A.6#2 | [Boys 8] Boys of the Lough. Regrouped. Aly Bain (fiddle), Cathal McConnell (flute, whistle, vocals), Dave Richardson (concertina, mandolin, cittern), Tich Richardson (guitar). For this tune: starts Aly Bain (fiddle). |
| ~1980 | 6#3 | [JKn 1] James Keane. Roll Away the Reel World. James Keane (accordion). For this tune: with Sean Keane. |
| ~1986 | 2.1#1 | [RtH] Round the House. Music for the Sets - Vol. 1. Séamus Meehan (piano accordion), Paul O'Shaughnessy (fiddle), Neillidh Mulligan (pipes), Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich (accordion), Gerry Bevan (fiddle). |
| ~1987 | 3#3 | [DD 7] De Dannan. Ballroom. Dolores Keane (vocals), Frankie Gavin (fiddle, viola, flute, whistle, piano), Martin O'Connor (accordion), Johnny (Ringo) McDonagh (bodhrán, bones, triangles), Caroline Lavelle (cello, vocals), Alec Finn (guitar, bouzouki). |
| ~1990 | 15#1 | [VK 1] Vinnie Kilduff. The Boys from the Blue Hill. Vinnie Kilduff (whistle, mandolin, guitar, keyboards, bass, bodhrán). For this tune: with (fiddles). |
| ~1992 | 17#1 | [MMM] Music at Matt Molloy's. Jimmy Murray (flute), Jimmy Murphy (fiddle), Peter Horan (fiddle). |
| ~1993 | 13#1 | [WU] Martin Mulhaire, Séamus Connolly, Jack Coen. Warming Up. Martin Mulhaire (accordion), Séamus Connolly (fiddle), Jack Coen (flute). For this tune: Jack Coen (flute). |
| 1996 | 6#1 | [TF] Martin Dowling, Christine Dowling, Daithi Sproule. A Thousand Farewells. Martin Dowling (fiddle), Christine Dowling (flute, vocals), Daithi Sproule (guitar). |
| ~1996 | 9#1 | [MOB] Mick O' Brien. May Morning Dew. Mick O' Brien (pipes, whistle). |
| 1999 | 3#2 | [Sld 1] Slide. The Flying Pig. Aogán Lynch (concertina, whistle), Daire Bracken (fiddle, guitar, vocals), Mick Broderick (bouzouki), Éamonn de Barra (flute, piano, keyboards, whistle, vocals). |
| 2000 | 5#1 | [CTL 8] Cherish the Ladies. The Girls Won't Leave the Boys Alone. Joanie Madden (whistle, flute, vocals), Mary Coogan (guitar, banjo, mandolin), Donna Long (piano, keyboards, vocals), Mary Rafferty (accordion, concertina, whistle), Deirdre Connolly (vocals, whistle, flute), Liz Knowles (fiddle). |
| ~2003 | 15#2 | [KLO] Mick O'Brien agus Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh. Kitty Lie Over. Mick O'Brien (pipes, whistle), Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh (fiddle, whistle). For this tune: (Bb pipes), (fiddle). |
| ~2007 | 2#3 | [PS 9] Patrick Street. On the Fly. Kevin Burke (fiddle), John Carty (fiddle, flute, banjo), Ged Foley (guitar, vocals), Andy Irvine (mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, harmonica, vocals). |
| ~2009 | 2#1 | [KClns 2] Kathleen Collins. My Book of Songs. Kathleen Collins (fiddle). For this tune: with Dan Collins (fiddle). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune 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 #1354 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #1355 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #609 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #165 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| On page 91 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| As tune #15 in volume 2 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols. |
| On page 124 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As reel #21 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #27 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital 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