Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#3025 (Magpie in the Tree)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MGm (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double jig | 32 | AABB | A Dorian |
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 / The Ducks in the Oats / John Mahony's / 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)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 2.2#1 | [MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals). For this tune: Michael Gorman (fiddle), Mick Flynn (flute). |
| ~1990 | 3#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). For this tune: 1st time Declan Masterson (pipes). |
| 1999 | 6#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). |
| 2000 | 14#1 | [KC 2] Kevin Crawford. In Good Company. Kevin Crawford (flute, whistle). For this tune: (Bb flute), with Martin Hayes (viola). |
| 2000 | 11#1 | [MOR] Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh. The Nervous Man. Traditional Irish Music on Concertina. Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh (concertina). |
| 2002 | 2#2 | [Stpkt] Steampacket. Homecoming. Stephan Schneider (fiddle), Tina Fastje (fiddle), Claus Steinort (flute), Rolf Wagels (bodhrán), Andreas Lassak (guitar, bass). |
| 2010 | 7#2 | [MCrJD] Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly. The Living Stream. Matt Cranitch (fiddle), Jackie Daly (accordion). |
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 #707 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #10 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #102 in volume 3 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
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