Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 3923 (Sergeant Early's Dream)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBD Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Sergeant Early's Dream
 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 PCny (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):
Sergeant Early's Dream / Sergt. Early's Dream / Sgt. Early's Dream / Sgt Earlys Dream / Sgt Earlys' Dream / Seargent Early's Dream / Aisling Sháirsint Early (also in A)
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
~19766#1[KClns] Kathleen Collins. Traditional Music of Ireland. Kathleen Collins (fiddle).View album details
~19956#1[PCny] Paddy Canny. Traditional Music from the Legendary East Clare Fiddler. Paddy Canny (fiddle).View album details
19999#2[MCnnly] Mick Conneely. Selkie. Mick Conneely (fiddle, bouzouki).View album details
~200212#1[LitN] Christy Barry, Conor McCarthy, Cyril O'Donoghue. Late . . . in the Night. Christy Barry (flute, whistle, spoons), Conor McCarthy (accordion), Cyril O'Donoghue (bouzouki, guitar).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 #1419 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #656 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #16 in volume 3 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
On page 136 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As reel #199 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.

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