Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#2055 (Wheels of the World)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording WW 1 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | D Mixolydian |
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Wheels of the World, The / Rothaí an Domhain / [misspelled as:] Wheel of the World / [mislabeled on the seminal 1930 recording by James Morrison as:] Rakish Paddy (2nd in set Boy in the Boat on LzKnls 2) (also in C)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | 12#2 | [MG] Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. Francis Cashin (fiddle), Tom Cawley (fiddle). |
| 1930 | 2#2 | [WW 1] The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 1. James Morrison (fiddle). |
| ~1975 | 11#2 | [SK 1] Seán Keane. Gusty's Frolicks. Seán Keane (fiddle). |
| ~1976 | 3#1 | [TP 2] Tommy Peoples and Paul Brady. The High Part of the Road. Tommy Peoples (fiddle), Paul Brady (guitar). |
| ~1978 | 1#3 | [KB Cap] Kevin Burke. If the Cap Fits. Kevin Burke (fiddle). |
| 2001 | 10#1 | [JBC] Johnny B. Connolly. Bridgetown. Johnny B. Connolly (accordion). |
| ~2001 | 10#1 | [FG 6] Frankie Gavin. Fierce Traditional. Frankie Gavin (fiddle, flute). For this tune: (fiddles). |
| 2008 | 9#2 | [RBys 3] Randal Bays. Dig with It. Randal Bays (fiddle, guitar, harp). |
| ~2008 | 3#1 | [TDeM] Tony DeMarco. The Sligo Indians. Tony DeMarco (fiddle). For this tune: with Jerry O'Sullivan (pipes). |
| ~2010 | 5#2 | [LzKnls 2] Liz Knowles. Making Time. Liz Knowles (fiddle, strings). |
| ~2011 | 7#2 | [SailCrvt] Paddy O'Brien, Tom Schaefer, Paul Wehling, Erin Hart. The Sailor's Cravat. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Tom Schaefer (fiddle), Paul Wehling (bouzouki), Erin Hart (vocals). |
| ~2011 | 6#2 | [FlgMem] Andrew Mac Namara, Orla Harrington, Jim Higgins. Flagstone Memories. Orla Harrington (fiddle), Andrew Mac Namara (accordion), Jim Higgins (piano, percussion). |
| ~2012 | 10#1 | [A PG] Altan. Gleann Nimhe - The Poison Glen. Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (fiddle, vocals), Ciaran Curran (bouzouki, mandolin), Ciaran Tourish (fiddle, vocals), Dáithi Sproule (guitar, vocals), Mark Kelly (guitar, bouzouki, vocals), Dermot Byrne (accordion). |
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 #168 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| As tune #43 in [SIMB] Tony Sullivan. Sully's Irish Music Book. |
| As tune #14 in [P50] Brian and Eithne Vallely. Play 50 Reels. |
| On page 290 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| On page 117 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As reel #349 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #266 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. |
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): 1929