Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 540 (Down the Broom)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBA Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Down the Broom
 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 IT 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 Broom / Leag Uait an Scuab / Lay Aside the Broom / Down the Broom I / Paddy Cronin's / Crosses of Annagh (compare Broomstick #3790, Jim Moore's Fancy #4139, and Follow Me Down to Galway #4336; compare 1st part with 1st part of Crosses of Annagh #421)
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
19602.10#1[SltSdt] various. Seoltaí Séidte. Setting Sail. View album details
19681.1#1[MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals).View album details
~197410#1[KCB 3] [The Kilfenora Ceili Band]. [The Kilfenora Céilí Band]. View album details
~197812#2[IT 2] The Irish Tradition. The Corner House. Billy McComiskey (accordion), Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), Andy O'Brien (guitar, vocals).View album details
19928#1[BMu 2] Brendan Mulvihill, Donna Long. The Morning Dew. Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), Donna Long (piano).View album details
1993[2] various. Alan's other personal audiocassettes.
~19978#2[GL1] various. The Dance Music of Ireland. Jigs and Reels. View album details
~19981.3#1[ESL 1] various. An Evening in Sliabh Luachra. Volume One. A Collection of Traditional Music and Song from the Sliabh Luachra Area. View album details
~19996#1[MtRd] various. The Mountain Road. A Compilation of Tunes Popular in South Sligo. View album details
~20031#2[KitRec] Seán O'Driscoll and Larry Egan. The Kitchen Recordings. Seán O'Driscoll (banjo, bouzouki), Larry Egan (accordion).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.

On page 65 of [RM] Randy Miller and Jack Perron. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. [available]
As tune #77 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
As tune #11 in volume 1 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
On page 90 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As tune #340 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
On page 14 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition.
As tune #3 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen Irish Session Tunes. [available]
On page 24 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As reel #69 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #144 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): 1960