Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#3840 (Captain Moonlight's Army)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording JCnly 1 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polka | 32 | AABB | E Dorian |
Captain Moonlight's Army / John with the Light Brown Hair / Polca Áine / Anne's Polka / Downey's / West Kerry / Séamus Cussen's (also in A Dorian) (1st part same as 1st part of Ceilidh House Polka in book M2 and same as 1st part of Nessa the Mover #5098; 2nd part same as 2nd part of #6179)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 1.4#2 | [SDI 3] Set Dances of Ireland. Volume III. Denis McMahon (fiddle), Paudy Scully (flute), Timmy O'Connor (melodeon). |
| ~1993 | 5#2 | [JCnly 1] Johnny Connolly. An tOileán Aerach. Johnny Connolly (melodeon). |
| 2000 | 3#2 | [INS] Hammy Hamilton, Séamus Creagh, Con Ó Drisceoil. It's No Secret. Hammy Hamilton (flute, vocals), Séamus Creagh (fiddle, vocals), Con Ó Drisceoil (accordion, vocals, piano). |
| ~2001 | 9#2 | [Beg 2] Beginish. Stormy Weather. Brendan Begley (accordion, vocals), Noel O'Grady (bouzouki), Paul McGrattan (flute, whistle), Gavin Ralston (guitar, keyboards), Paul O'Shaughnessy (fiddle). |
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 #339 in volume 2 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| As tune #129 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2. |
| As tune #41 in [IBPS] Pat Conway. Ireland's Best Polkas and Slides. |
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): 1927