Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#3702 (Old Pensioner)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | D Major |
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 Dnu 3 (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Old Pensioner, The / Hickey's / The Ballydesmond / Ríl Bhaile Deasumhan
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~2000 | 7#1 | [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). |
| 2001 | 8#4 | [Dnu 3] Danú. All Things Considered. Tom Doorley (flute, whistle), Eamon Doorley (bouzouki, mandola), Brendan McCarthy (accordion, harmonica), Oisin MacAuley (fiddle, vocals, guitar), Jesse Smith (fiddle, viola), Noel Ryan (guitar), Donnchadh Gough (bodhrán, pipes), Ciarán Ó Gealbháin (vocals, piano accordion). |
| ~2003 | 8#1 | [KitRec] Seán O'Driscoll and Larry Egan. The Kitchen Recordings. Seán O'Driscoll (banjo, bouzouki), Larry Egan (accordion). |
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 #1315 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #577 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| On page 116 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As reel #127 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music. |
| As tune #337 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| As reel #527 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc Tunes. |
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