Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 597 (Fairy Reel)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel32AABBG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Fairy Reel
 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 Ev (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 Reel, The / The Fairey Reel / Ríl na Sióg /The Fairy Dance / Largo's Fairy Dance / Daunse ny Farishyn / Fisher Laddie / Haymakers / The Jolly Banger / Old Molly Hare / Quick Scotch (note that 2nd part is used as intro on PotW) (compare Fairy Dance #593; compare 1st part with 1st part of The Spinner's Delight included here in books 1850 and Krsn; and with 1st part of Fairy Reel #4886; compare 1st 2 bars with 1st 2 bars of Lománach Cross #1145)
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
~197910#2[Ev] Kevin Burke and Jackie Daly. Eavesdropper. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Jackie Daly (accordion, concertina).View album details
200714#1[PotW] John Wynne and John McEvoy. Pride of the West. John Wynne (flute), John McEvoy (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 #1380 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
On page 128 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As reel #82 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #16 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen 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): 1903