Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 539 (Down the Back Lane)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBD Mixolydian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Down the Back Lane
 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 WC 2 (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):
Down the Back Lane / The Humours of Ayle House / Boring the Leather / Tolladh an Leathair / The Cavan Brigade (compare distantly the printed settings included here titled The Kilfinane Jig / The Humors of Ayle House / Come with Me Now / When You Go Home / The Connachtman / The Connaughtman / The Shoemaker's Fancy)
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
~194920#1[IDM 2] various. Past Masters of Irish Dance Music. View album details
197315#1[WC 2] Willie Clancy. The Pipering of Willie Clancy. Volume 1. Willie Clancy (pipes, whistle).View album details
~197717#2[SE 4] Séamus Ennis. Forty Years of Irish Piping. Seamus Ennis (pipes except where whistle or vocals noted).View album details
~19954#1[MMR 1] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Dangerous Reel. Mike Rafferty (flute, whistle, pipes), Mary Rafferty (accordion, flute, whistle).View album details
~199513#2[PCny] Paddy Canny. Traditional Music from the Legendary East Clare Fiddler. Paddy Canny (fiddle).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 #1053 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #1070 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #261 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #273 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #312 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #334 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #93 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #6 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2.
As tune #6 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1.
As tune #103 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
On page 61 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 65 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As jig #29 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. [available]
As tune #229 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [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
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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