Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 2642 (Top It Off)

RhythmBarsMode
Slip jig32D Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Top It Off
 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 DC1 (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):
Top It Off / Cuir Barr Air / Dress Her Out in Fine Clothes / The Maid's Request / The Booley House Jig (note varying meters usuallly; also singled, entirely in regular meter) (compare 1st part with 1st part of reel #4710)
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
197115#1[DC1] various. The Drones and the Chanters. Irish Pipering. Séamus Ennis (pipes), Peadar Broe (pipes), Leo Rowsome (pipes), Paddy Moloney (pipes), Dan Dowd (pipes), Tommy Reck (pipes), Willie Clancy (pipes).View album details
197115#1[TPtts] Tommy Potts. The Liffey Banks. Tommy Potts (fiddle).View album details
~19761#3[Ch 6] The Chieftains. 6. Bonaparte's Retreat. Paddy Moloney [misspelled as:] Maloney (pipes, whistle, bodhrán), Seán Potts (whistle, bodhrán), Martin Fay (fiddle), Michael Tubridy (flute, concertina, whistle), Derek Bell (harp, oboe, tiompán), Seán Keane (fiddle).View album details
~199313#3[SnugBl] Paddy O'Brien, Jamie Gans, Daithi Sproule. Snug in the Blanket. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Jamie Gans (fiddle), Daithi Sproule (guitar).View album details
20033#1[Dnu 4] Danú. The Road Less Travelled. Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (vocals, flute, whistle), Benny McCarthy (accordion), Donnchadh Gough (bodhrán, pipes), Oisin McAuley (fiddle, vocals), Tom Doorley (flute, whistle, vocals), Eamon Doorley (bouzouki), Donal Clancy (guitar).View album details
~200714#1[MH 5] Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill. Welcome Here Again. Martin Hayes (fiddle, viola), Dennis Cahill (guitar, mandolin, bass).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 #1165 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #439 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #69 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1.
On page 86 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [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): 1903