Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#2146 (Maggie in the Wood)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording ItS (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polka | 32 | AABB | G Major |
Maggie in the Wood / If I Had Maggie in the Wood / Maggie in the Woods / Maggie in the Corner / Nancy Wants Her Own Share / Séamaisín (2nd in set If I Had Maggie in the Wood on Ch 8; for 4th figure of Connemara Set on JRSLCB 2) (also in D or A) (compare [untitled] Polka in CITM, p. 280)
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 12 seconds.
to hear the first 12 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1956 | 24#3 | [ItS] In the Smoke. Margaret Barry (banjo), Michael Gorman (fiddle), Patsy Goulding (piano), Tommy McGuire (accordion), Paddy Breen (whistle). |
| 1974 | 13#2 | [CC] Bernard O'Sullivan and Tommy McMahon. Clare Concertinas. Bernard O'Sullivan (concertina), Tommy McMahon (concertina) except where solos noted. For this tune: Bernard O'Sullivan. |
| ~1978 | 6#2 | [Ch 8] The Chieftains. 8. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Seán Potts (whistle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Martin Fay (fiddle, bones), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Derek Bell (harp, tiompán), Kevin Conneff (bodhrán). |
| ~1998 | 22#1 | [JRSLCB 2] Johnny Reidy and the Sliabh Luachra Ceili Band. Music for Set Dancing Vol. II. Johnny Reidy (accordion). |
| 2001 | 16#1 | [PHCB] Public House Ceili Band. Go Figure. Dan Cobb (banjo), Dave Delgado (whistle), Alan Ng (fiddle), Bob Newton (octave mandolin). |
| ~2002 | 1.10#1 | [MSCB] Michael Sexton Ceili Band. Michael Sexton Ceili Band. Michael Sexton (accordion), Caroline Tubridy (fiddle), Pat Curtin (flute), Brian Morgan (flute), Ralph Morgan (banjo), George Byrt (piano), Martin Garrihy (drums). |
| ~2006 | 13#1 | [JOSe] Jimmí Ó Sé. Malairt Poirt ó Fionntrá. Jimmí Ó Sé (accordion, vocals). For this tune: (C melodeon). |
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 #69 in [D&M] Arthur Warren Darley and Patrick Joseph McCall. The Darley and McCall Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| As polka #19 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc Tunes. |
| As tune #30 in [IBPS] Pat Conway. Ireland's Best Polkas and Slides. |
| On page 280 of [CITM] Fintan Vallely. The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. |
| On page 232 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition. |
| As polka #24 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #58 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): 1914