Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#590 (Molly Bán)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 16 | AB | G Dorian |
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 KOS (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Molly Bán / Molly Bawn / Molly Ban / White-Haired Molly / Fairhaired Mary / Fair-Haired Mary / Fair Haired Molly / Fairhaired Molly (4th in set Michael Gorman's on BB 2; this set in turn was mislabeled on some reissues as The Laurel Tree) (also in E, also doubled) (compare #3288)
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). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1973 | 7#2 | [JB 1] Joe Burke with Charlie Lennon. Traditional Music of Ireland. Joe Burke (accordion), with Charlie Lennon (piano). |
| 1976 | 6#4 | [BB 2] The Bothy Band. Old Hag You Have Killed Me. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle), Kevin Burke (fiddle), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (vocals, clavinet, harmonium), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (vocals, guitar), Donal Lunny (vocals, bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán). |
| ~1981 | 10#1 | [KOS] James Kelly, Paddy O'Brien, Daithi Sproule. Traditional Music of Ireland. James Kelly (fiddle), Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Daithi Sproule (vocals, guitar). |
| ~1993 | 7#1 | [JMd] Joanie Madden. A Whistle on the Wind. Joanie Madden (flute, whistle). |
| 1994 | 9#1 | [MH 2] Martin Hayes. Under the Moon. Martin Hayes (fiddle). |
| ~1994 | 2.5#1 | [WFO 1] various. Wooden Flute Obsession. |
| ~1997 | 8#2 | [PCny] Paddy Canny. Traditional Music from the Legendary East Clare Fiddler. Paddy Canny (fiddle). |
| ~2002 | 7#1 | [EON] Eoin O'Neill. In Session. Eoin O'Neill (bouzouki, fiddle). |
| ~2005 | 8#1 | [CTrsh] Ciaran Tourish. Down the Line. Ciaran Tourish (fiddle, whistle). |
| ~2007 | 6#2 | [CMcN] Christy McNamara. The House I Was Reared In. Christy McNamara (accordion, concertina, vocals). |
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 #1474 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #703 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| On page 146 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #154 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