Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#51 (Ah Surely)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | G 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 BtB (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Ah Surely / Ah Surely! / Ah, Surely / Ah, Surely... / Aye Surely / Cinnte Le Dia / The Windy Gap / Bearna na Gaoithe / Killaghbeg House / Killabeg's House / Killybegs House / Rose in the Garden / The Rose in the Garden / Up Cloontia / The Boys of Twenty-Five / The Boys of the 25 / The Bonfire (1st in Crosses of Annagh Set on Dnu 1)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| 1932 | 10#1 | [WW 1] various. The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 1. |
| 1932 | 4#1 | [BtB] Paddy Killoran, James Morrison. From Ballymote to Brooklyn. Paddy Killoran (fiddle), James Morrison (fiddle). |
| 1937 | 9#1 | [IFM] various. Past Masters of Irish Fiddle Music. |
| 1968 | 1.14#2 | [MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals). |
| ~1976 | 7#2 | [AMPR] Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds. Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds. Andy McGann (fiddle), Paddy Reynolds (fiddle). |
| ~1979 | 1#2 | [MB 1] Mary Bergin. Feadóga Stáin. Traditional Irish Music on the Tin Whistle. Mary Bergin (whistle). |
| ~1979 | 4#1 | [Ev] Kevin Burke and Jackie Daly. Eavesdropper. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Jackie Daly (accordion, concertina). |
| ~1996 | 14#1 | [ST] Seamus Tansey. Easter Snow. Seamus Tansey (flute). |
| 1997 | 14#1 | [Dnu 1] Danú. Danú. Daire Bracken (fiddle), Brendan McCarthy (accordion), Donnchadh Gough (pipes, bodhrán), Tom Doorley (flute), Eamonn Doorley (bouzouki, fiddle), Timmy Murray (guitar), Cárthach Mac Craith (vocals). |
| ~1998 | 12#1 | [KHe] Kevin Henry. One's Own Place - A Family Tradition. Kevin Henry (flute, whistle, pipes, vocals). |
| 2009 | 7#2 | [Hmmrs] The Hammers. From Distant Shores. Paul Hammer (mandolin, banjo), Susan Hammer (whistle, concertina). |
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 #81 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| As tune #25 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen Irish Session Tunes. |
| As reel #200 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. |
| As tune #30 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
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): 1932