Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 251 (Butcher's March)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Butcher's March
 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 IDM 1 (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Butcher's March, The / The Butchers' March / The Butcher's Jig / The Butchers of Bristol / The Lark's March / The Gander at the Pratie Hole / The Bog of Allen / Bogs of Allen / Along with the Girls I'd Like to Be / The Boys of Clones / Bloody Oul' Hag, Is It Tay You Want? / Brendan Begley's Jig (also with parts reversed and with more parts)
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd 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). Album details
and contents
192610#3[LR 1] Leo Rowsome. Classics of Irish Piping. Leo Rowsome (pipes).View album details
19282#2[IDM 1] various. Irish Dance Music. View album details
~194815#2[JDJO] Joe Derrane and Jerry O'Brien. Irish Accordion Masters. Joe Derrane (accordion), Jerry O'Brien (accordion).View album details
195919#1[SE 6] Séamus Ennis. The Return from Fingal. Séamus Ennis (pipes, vocals).View album details
~196430#2[CmA 1] various. The Coleman Archive Vol. 1: The Living Tradition. View album details
~1978B.8#1[NF] Joe Shannon, Johnny McGreevy. The Noonday Feast. Joe Shannon (pipes), Johnny McGreevy (fiddle).View album details
~198521#1[KHe] Kevin Henry. One's Own Place - A Family Tradition. Kevin Henry (flute, whistle, pipes, vocals).View album details
19904#3[COG] Conal O Gráda. The Top of Coom. Conal Ó Gráda (flute).View album details
~19939#2[Shskn] Shaskeen. My Love Is in America. Tom Cussen (banjo), Benny O'Connor (drums, bodhrán), Sean Conway (flute, whistle, guitar, vocals), Charlie Harris (accordion), Kevin Rohan (fiddle, vocals).View album details
199410#1[MH 2] Martin Hayes. Under the Moon. Martin Hayes (fiddle).View album details
199613#2[TCB 3] The Tulla Ceili Band. A Celebration of 50 Years. P. J. Hayes (fiddle), Martin Hayes (fiddle), Francis Donnellan (fiddle), Mark Donnellan (fiddle), J. J. Conway (flute), Jennifer Lenihan (flute), Sean Donnelly (accordion), Michael McKee (accordion), Jim Corry (piano), Michael Flanigan (drums).View album details
~19966#2[PCln] Pat Cloonan. Pat Cloonan's Thanksgiving. Patrick Cloonan (accordion).View album details
20015#3[A BI] Altan. Blue Idol. Not identified in liner notes. [Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (fiddle, vocals), Ciaran Tourish (fiddle, whistle), Dermot Byrne (accordion), Ciaran Curran (bouzouki), Mark Kelly (guitar), Dáithi Sproule (guitar)].View album details
20065#2[TCB 4] The Tulla Céilí Band. 60th Anniversary Celebration. Mark Donnellan (fiddle), Martin Hayes (fiddle), Jim Corry (piano), Sean Donnelly (accordion), Michael McKee (accordion), J.J. Conway (flute), Jennifer Lenihan (flute), Martin Glynn (flute), Mick Flanagan (drums).View album details

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 #27(iii) in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2.
On page 429 of [IMM] Francis O'Neill. Irish Minstrels and Musicians. [available]
As tune #867 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #127 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #27(ii) in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2.
As tune #21 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2.
As tune #27(i) in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2.
On page 36 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As tune #40 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As jig #5 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
On page 77 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition.
On page 127 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As jig #17 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #233 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [available]

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): 1810