Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#788 (Cailleach an Airgid)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording Ch B (song) (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double jig | 32 | AABB | D Mixolydian |
Cailleach an Airgid / Cailleach an Airgead / The Hag with the Money / Hag with Money / Is Í Do Mhamó Í / Sí Do Mhaimeo Í / 'Sí Do Mhamó Í / Sí do Mhamó í / Si do Mhaimeo Í / The Wealthy Widow / She's Your Granny / I Was Born for Sport / My Brother Tom (3rd in set Chase around the Windmill on Ch B) (also in D Major or E Dorian, also as song, included here) (compare 1st part with 1st part of I Was Born for Sport #5951)
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.
Click 
to hear the first 12 seconds.
to hear the first 12 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 1.2#1 | [SltSdt] Seoltaí Séidte. Setting Sail. Seán 'ac Dhonncha (vocals). |
| ~1969 | 2#1 | [FFurey] Finbar Furey. Traditional Irish Pipe Music. Finbar Furey (pipes, whistle). For this tune: (pipes). |
| ~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). For this tune: Kevin Conneff (vocals). |
| 1987 | 22#1 | [WmSullvn] William Sullivan. Traditional Irish Music. William Sullivan (accordion). |
| ~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). For this tune: Mairead (vocals). |
| ~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). For this tune: (whistle). |
| ~1996 | 8#3 | [MOB] Mick O' Brien. May Morning Dew. Mick O' Brien (pipes, whistle). For this tune: (pipes), with Terry Crehan (fiddle). |
| ~1997 | 2#2 | [SHernon] Seán Hernon. An Nóra Bheag. Seán Hernon (Eb whistle, banjo). |
| ~1998 | 2#1 | [JCnly 2] Johnny Connolly. Drioball na Fáinleoige. Johnny Connolly (melodeon, accordion, vocals). For this tune: (melodeon), with Charlie Lennon (fiddle). |
| 1999 | 2#1 | [MCnnly] Mick Conneely. Selkie. Mick Conneely (fiddle, bouzouki). |
| 2000 | 1.4#3 | [LaL] Lámh ar Lámh. Many Hands. Nóra Ó Raghallaigh (fiddle), Áine Ó Raghallaigh (fiddle), Mac Dara Ó Raghallaigh (fiddle), Felim Ó Raghallaigh (flute), Micheál Ó Raghallaigh (concertina). |
| ~2000 | 5#1 | [MMR 3] Mike and Mary Rafferty. The Road from Ballinakill. Mike Rafferty (flute, whistle, lilting), Mary Rafferty (accordion, flute, whistle, concertina). For this tune: Mary (accordion), Dónal (guitar). |
| 2001 | 10#1 | [FDys] Davy Spillane and Kevin Glackin. Forgotten Days. Davy Spillane (pipes, whistle), Kevin Glackin (fiddle). For this tune: (pipes), (fiddle). |
| ~2003 | 7#2 | [MMlvy] Mick Mulvey. Within a Mile o' Jamestown. Mick Mulvey (flute). For this tune: (Eb 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). |
| ~2010 | 6#1 | [NNC 2] Niamh Ní Charra. Súgach Sámh / Happy Out. Niamh Ní Charra (fiddle, concertina, vocals, viola). For this tune: (vocals, fiddle). |
| ~2011 | 16#2 | [PO 4] Paddy O'Brien. Mixing the Punch. Paddy O'Brien (accordion). |
| ~2011 | 11#1 | [Bua 3] Bua. Down the Green Fields. Devin Shepherd (fiddle), Sean Gavin (flute, pipes, whistle), Brían Ó hAirt (vocals, concertina, dance), Brian Miller (guitar, bouzouki). |
| 2012 | 2#1 | [PDArcy] Patrick D'Arcy. Wallop the Spot. Patrick D'Arcy (pipes, whistle). For this tune: (D pipes). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune 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