Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#517 (Shearing the Sheep)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording KB Pt (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | A Major |
Shearing the Sheep / Dipping the Sheep (also 1st part doubled) (this tune is only slightly different from Red-Haired Lass #2245)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1982 | 9#4 | [KB Pt] Kevin Burke and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill. Portland. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (vocals, guitar, harmonium). |
| 1994 | 1#1 | [JDr 1] Joe Derrane with Felix Dolan. Give Us Another. Joe Derrane (accordion), Felix Dolan (piano). |
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 #1515 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #734 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| On page 154 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #246 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. |
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