Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#308 (Chattering Magpie)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording Plx 5 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | G Major |
Chattering Magpie, The / Chattering Magpie / Chatterin Magpie / An Mheaig Chabach / Gliogaireacht an tSnaga / Gun in the Thatch
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1946 | 2#1 | [ICTM] Ireland. Irlande. Aggie White (fiddle). |
| ~1962 | 14#2 | [BG 1] Bobby Gardiner. Memories of Clare. Bobby Gardiner (accordion). |
| ~1976 | 1#5 | [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). |
| ~1979 | 8#2 | [Plx 5] Planxty. After the Break. Christy Moore (vocals, guitar, harmonium, bodhrán), Donal Lunny (blarge, guitar), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, hurdy gurdy, bouzouki), Liam O'Flynn (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle). |
| ~1984 | 11#2 | [Crsl] Séamus McGuire, Manus McGuire, Dáithí Sproule. Carousel. Séamus McGuire (fiddle, viola), Manus McGuire (fiddle), Dáithí Sproule (guitars, vocals). |
| 1985 | 5#2 | [Kn] Noel Hill and Tony MacMahon. In Knocknagree. Noel Hill (concertina), Tony MacMahon (accordion). For this tune: Noel Hill (concertina). |
| 1991 | 1#5 | [Ch AIE] The Chieftains. An Irish Evening. Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast. Martin Fay (fiddle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals), Matt Molloy (flute), Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Derek Bell (harp, tiompán, keyboards). |
| ~1995 | 16#1 | [MMR 1] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Dangerous Reel. Mike Rafferty (flute, whistle, pipes), Mary Rafferty (accordion, flute, whistle). |
| 2000 | 13#2 | [CTL 8] Cherish the Ladies. The Girls Won't Leave the Boys Alone. Joanie Madden (whistle, flute, vocals), Mary Coogan (guitar, banjo, mandolin), Donna Long (piano, keyboards, vocals), Mary Rafferty (accordion, concertina, whistle), Deirdre Connolly (vocals, whistle, flute), Liz Knowles (fiddle). |
| ~2005 | 3#3 | [CDrny 4] Chris Droney. Down from Bell Harbour. Chris Droney (concertina). |
| 2009 | 14#2 | [RoClare] Riches of Clare. Pádraig Rynne, Noel O'Donoghue, Brian Mooney, Liam Murphy. |
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 #77 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| On page 74 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. |
| On page 29 of [T] Fintan Vallely. Timber. The Flute Tutor. 2nd Edition. |
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): 1946