Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 4581 (Polly Put the Kettle On)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBA Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Polly Put the Kettle On
 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 JMcE (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):
Polly Put the Kettle On / Molly Put the Kettle On / The Watchmaker
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
~19987#2[JMcE] John McEvoy. Returning. John McEvoy (fiddle).View album details
~20031.19#3[WFO 2] various. Wooden Flute Obsession 2. View album details
~20078#1[CMcN] Christy McNamara. The House I Was Reared In. Christy McNamara (accordion, concertina, vocals).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 #1363 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #616 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #196 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
On page 126 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [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): 1903