Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 3431 (Pay the Girl Her Fourpence)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Pay the Girl Her Fourpence
 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 MotS 2 (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):
Pay the Girl Her Fourpence / Give the Girl Her Fourpence / Ríl na Drithleog (also 2nd part singled)
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
197418#1[RF] Miko, Pakie and Gussie Russell. The Russell Family of Doolin, County Clare. Miko Russell (whistle, flute, vocals), Gussie Russell (whistle), Pakie Russell (concertina).View album details
~19867#2[SEgn 1] Seamus Egan. Traditional Music of Ireland. Seamus Egan (flute, banjo, mandolin, whistle, pipes, tres).View album details
~19959#2[MotS 2] Monks of the Screw. Brathar na nÓl. Timmy O'Connor (accordion), Paudy Scully (flute), Tim Browne (fiddle, bouzouki, mandolin), John Drew (mandocello), Dan Curtin (fiddle, feet), Timmy O'Shea (guitar, vocals).View album details
~199712#2[Sol 2] Solas. Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers. Karan Casey (vocals), John Doyle (guitar, mandocello, vocals), Seamus Egan (flute, banjo, whistle, mandolin, guitar, bodhrán, percussion), Winifred Horan (fiddle), John Williams (accordion, concertina).View album details
~20003#2[DH 3] Dan Herlihy and John Drew. The Ballydesmond Polka. Traditional Irish Music from Sliabh Luachra Played By Dan Herlihy and John Drew. Dan Herlihy (accordion), John Drew (mandocello).View album details
~20061#3[Tda 3] Téada. Inné Amárach. Seán McElwain (guitar, bouzouki, banjo), Damien Stenson (flute), Tristan Rosenstock (bodhrán), Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle, piano), Paul Finn (accordion).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 #804 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As reel #539 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc Tunes. [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): 1907