Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#788 (Cailleach an Airgid)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double jig | 32 | AABB | D Mixolydian |
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 Ch B (song) (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Cailleach an Airgid / Cailleach an Airgead / The Hag with the Money / Is Í Do Mhamó Í / Sí Do Mhaimeo Í / Sí do Mhamó í / Si do Mhaimeo Í / The Wealthy Widow / She's Your Granny / I Was Born for Sport / My Brother Tom (also in Major, also as song, included here)
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.
| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 1.2#1 | [SltSdt] various. Seoltaí Séidte. Setting Sail. |
| ~1979 | 10#3 | [Ch B] The Chieftains. 9. Boil the Breakfast Early. Paddy Moloney (pipes, whistle), Seán Keane (fiddle), Martin Fay (fiddle, bones), Derek Bell (harp, tiompán), Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle). |
| ~1989 | 1.2#2 | [JK 1] James Kelly. "Capel Street". James Kelly (fiddle). |
| 1991 | 8#1 | [A HS] Altan. Harvest Storm. Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (fiddle, vocals), Frankie Kennedy (flute, whistle, vocals), Paul O'Shaughnessy (fiddle), Ciaran Tourish (fiddle, whistle, vocals), Mark Kelly (guitar, vocals), Ciaran Curran (bouzouki, bouzouki-guitar). |
| ~1992 | 7#1 | [PHt] Parson's Hat. The Better Match. Bríd Ní Chatháin (harp, vocals), Fred Johnston (guitar, vocals, mandolin), Janet Sutton (whistle), Paul Wilkins (piano accordion, whistle, keyboards, piano). |
| ~1996 | 11#3 | [LN 1] Laurence Nugent. Traditional Irish Music on Flute and Tin-Whistle. Laurence Nugent (flute, whistle). |
| ~1996 | 8#3 | [MOB] Mick O' Brien. May Morning Dew. Mick O' Brien (pipes, whistle). |
| 1999 | 2#1 | [MCnnly] Mick Conneely. Selkie. Mick Conneely (fiddle, bouzouki). |
| ~2000 | 5#1 | [MMR 3] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Road from Ballinakill. Mike Rafferty (flute, whistle, lilting), Mary Rafferty (accordion, flute, whistle, concertina). |
| 2001 | 10#1 | [FDys] Davy Spillane and Kevin Glackin. Forgotten Days. Davy Spillane (pipes, whistle), Kevin Glackin (fiddle). |
| ~2003 | 7#2 | [MMlvy] Mick Mulvey. Within a Mile o' Jamestown. Mick Mulvey (flute). |
| ~2007 | 6#1 | [ATrgs 1] Athena Tergis. A Letter Home. Athena Tergis (fiddle). |
| 2008 | 3#3 | [NtDay] Brett Lipshutz and Randy Lee Gosa. Night and Day. Brett Lipshutz (flute, whistle, bombarde), Randy Lee Gosa (guitar). |
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 #721 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #21 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| As tune #41 in [CRE 1] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1. |
| On page 19 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| On page 59 of [RW] Robin Williamson. The Penny Whistle Book. |
| On page 29 of [TOC] Tomás Ó Canainn. Traditional Music in Ireland. |
| As tune #175 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. |
| As jig #46 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #51 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. |
| As tune #183 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
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