Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 2665 (Tenpenny Bit)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Tenpenny Bit
 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 GD (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):
Tenpenny Bit, The / Tenpenny Bit / Ten Penny Bit / [misspelled as:] Ten Penney Bit / An Píosa Deich bPíngne / An Píosa Deich bPingne / The Ducks and the Oats / Joe Conway's (1st in set Tenpenny Bit on Drv 5) (setting #929 in book 1850 starts in A Dorian)
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
193414#2[GD] various. From Galway to Dublin. Early Recordings of Traditional Irish Music. View album details
~198113#2[ApW] Brian Conway and Tony DeMarco. The Apple in Winter. Irish Music in New York. Brian Conway (fiddle), Tony DeMarco (fiddle).View album details
~199218#2[MMM] various. Music at Matt Molloy's. View album details
199815#1[JWh] John Whelan. Come to Dance. John Whelan (accordion).View album details
~19998#2[MtRd] various. The Mountain Road. A Compilation of Tunes Popular in South Sligo. View album details
~19993#1[Drv 5] Dervish. Midsummer's Night. Cathy Jordan (vocals, bodhrán, bones), Tom Morrow (fiddle, viola, vocals), Shane Mitchell (accordion), Liam Kelly (flute, whistle), Séamus O'Dowd (guitar, fiddle, harmonica, vocals), Michael Holmes (bouzouki), Brian McDonagh (mandola, mandolin, vocals).View album details
~20003#1[LLPQ 1] The London Lasses and Pete Quinn. The London Lasses and Pete Quinn. Bernie Conneely (banjo), Elaine Conwell (fiddle), Karen Ryan (fiddle, whistle), Sharon Whelton (flute, whistle).View album details
200112#2[JCrv] John Creaven. The Story So Far. John Creaven (flute).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 #929 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #930 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #162 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #24 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1.
On page 43 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As tune #26 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As jig #262 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc Tunes. [available]
As tune #200 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): 1903