Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#207 (Boys of Bluehill)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording IDM 1 (track 15) (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hornpipe | 32 | AABB | D Major |
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Boys of Bluehill, The / Boys of Bluehill / Boys of Blue Hill / Buachaillí an Chnoic Ghoirm / Beaux of Oak Hill / Beaux of Oakhill / Lads of North Tyne (compare Jimmy Keane composition Bluehill on Boh 4, included here; compare old-time tune Keep the Ark A' Movin included here)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1934 | 15#1 | [IDM 1] Irish Dance Music. Pat Roche's Harp & Shamrock Orchestra. |
| 1937 | 5#2 | [IDM 2] Past Masters of Irish Dance Music. Myles O'Mally and His Orchestra. |
| 1961 | 1.8#2 | [MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals). For this tune: Michael Gorman (fiddle), Margaret Barry (banjo). |
| ~1974 | 2#1 | [SE 3] Séamus Ennis. The Wandering Minstrel. Seamus Ennis (pipes). |
| ~1974 | 11#1 | [GP] The Gentlemen Pipers. Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Piping. Seamus Ennis. |
| 1987 | 19#1 | [WmSullvn] William Sullivan. Traditional Irish Music. William Sullivan (accordion). For this tune: with Mitzie Collins (hammered dulcimer). |
| ~1989 | 13#2 | [JOL 2] Johnny O'Leary. An Calmfhear. The Trooper. Johnny O'Leary (accordion). |
| ~1990 | 4#2 | [VK 1] Vinnie Kilduff. The Boys from the Blue Hill. Vinnie Kilduff (whistle, mandolin, guitar, keyboards, bass, bodhrán). |
| 1992 | 2.7#2 | [SDI 2] Set Dances of Ireland. Volume II. Denis McMahon (fiddle), Paudy Scully (flute), Timmy O'Connor (melodeon), Michael Tubridy (flute), Tommy McCarthy (concertina), Eamon McGivney (fiddle). |
| 1993 | 16#1 | [MR 5] Micho Russell. Ireland's Whistling Ambassador. Micho Russell (whistle, vocals). |
| ~1993 | 22#2 | [JCnly] Johnny Connolly. An tOileán Aerach. Johnny Connolly (accordion). |
| ~1995 | 12#1 | [Arc 2] Arcady. Many Happy Returns. Johnny McDonagh (bones, bodhrán, triangle), Nicholas Quemener (guitar, flute, whistle, vocals), Patsy Broderick (piano, keyboards), Conor Keane (accordion), Brendan Larrissey (fiddle), Niamh Parsons (vocals). |
| ~1996 | 6#1 | [GOh] Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin. Traditional Music from Clare and Beyond. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (concertina, whistle). |
| ~1996 | 6#3 | [GOh] Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin. Traditional Music from Clare and Beyond. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (concertina, whistle). |
| ~1996 | 8#2 | [JCt 2] John Carty. Last Night's Fun. John Carty (fiddle, banjo, flute). |
| ~1999 | 15#1 | [OMT] Billy McComiskey, Brendan Mulvihill, and Zan McLeod. One More Time. Billy McComiskey (accordion), Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), and Zan McLeod (guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, bass). For this tune: Brendan. |
| 2001 | 8#2 | [IBrgd 10] The Irish Brigade (and Friends). Live at the Half Time Rec. Mike Wallace (guitar, bodhrán, bass, vocals), Sean Conway (flute, whistle, guitar, vocals), John Wright (bass), Karie Oberg (vocals), Mike Ryan (dumbek). For this tune: Sean Conway (Bb whistle). |
| ~2004 | 7#1 | [Boh 4] Bohola. 4. Jimmy Keane (piano accordion, vocals, foot), Sean Cleland (fiddle), Pat Broaders (dordan, vocals), Kat Eggleston (vocals). |
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 #1700 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #898 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #183 in volume 3 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| As tune #74 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." |
| On page 197 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #120 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| On page 155 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| On page 54 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. |
| On page 73 of [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. |
| On page 75 of [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. |
| As other #7 in [Ng] Alan Ng. Alan Ng's Transcriptions. |
| In [FMH] Tom Hastings. The Feis Musicians Handbook [sic]. |
| On page 199 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As hp #7 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #51 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