Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 593 (Fairy Dance)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel16ABD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Fairy Dance
 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 JD 3 (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):
Fairy Dance, The / The Fairy Reel / The Haymakers / Haymakers / Daunse ny Farishyn / Largo's Fairy Dance / Fisher Laddie / The Jolly Banger / Old Molly Hare / Quick Scotch (also in A or G, also in American music with reversed parts as Old Molly Hare, included here in book FF) (compare Fairy Reel #597; compare distantly with parts of #2292)
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
197423#2[JD 3] John Doherty. The Celebrated Recordings. John Doherty (fiddle, vocals).View album details
19987(6:14)#6[CFF 2] Kevin Burke / Johnny Cunningham / Christian Lemaître / Soïg Siberil. Celtic Fiddle Festival Encore. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Johnny Cunningham (fiddle), Christian Lemaître (fiddle), Soïg Siberil (guitar).View album details
20035#1[Dnu 4] Danú. The Road Less Travelled. Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (vocals, flute, whistle), Benny McCarthy (accordion), Donnchadh Gough (bodhrán, pipes), Oisin McAuley (fiddle, vocals), Tom Doorley (flute, whistle, vocals), Eamon Doorley (bouzouki), Donal Clancy (guitar).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 #986 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 51 of [RW] Robin Williamson. The Penny Whistle Book. [available]
On page 100 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
On page 207 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As tune #16 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. [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): 1907
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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