Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 3025 (Magpie in the Tree)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBA Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Magpie in the Tree
 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 MGm (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):
Magpie in the Tree, The / Guiry's Favorite / Gurney's Fancy / Brian O'Lynn / Brian O'Lynn's / Bryan O'Lynn / The Cockled Old Man / John Mahony's / The Ducks in the Oats / Another Jig (2nd in set TTS1 "Splice Jigs" on Sld 1) (also in G, also in B, also with parts reversed) (compare Bryan O'Lynn #238)
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
19512.2#1[MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals).View album details
~19903#1[PS 3] Patrick Street. Irish Times. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Andy Irvine (vocals, harmonica, mandolin, bouzouki), Gerry O'Beirne (vocals, guitar), James Kelly (fiddle), Declan Masterson (pipes, whistle, keyboards), Jackie Daly (accordion), Arty McGlynn (guitar), Bill Whelan (keyboards).View album details
200014#1[KC 2] Kevin Crawford. In Good Company. Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle).View album details
200011#1[MOR] Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh. The Nervous Man. Traditional Irish Music on Concertina. Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh (concertina).View album details
~20006#2[Sld 1] Slide. The Flying Pig. Aogán Lynch (concertina, whistle), Daire Bracken (fiddle, guitar, vocals), Mick Broderick (bouzouki), Éamonn de Barra (flute, piano, keyboards, whistle, vocals).View album details
20022#2[Stpkt] Steampacket. Homecoming. Stephan Schneider (fiddle), Tina Fastje (fiddle), Claus Steinort (flute), Rolf Wagels (bodhrán), Andreas Lassak (guitar, 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 #707 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #10 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #102 in volume 3 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [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
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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