Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 799 (Handsome Sally)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel16ABE Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Handsome Sally
 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 MM 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):
Handsome Sally / Drowsy Maggie (compare 1st part with 1st part of Miss Kelly's Favourite / Rogha Iníon Uí Cheallaigh / The New Potatoes / The Merry Thatcher / Through the Heather included here from book sources)
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
~198713#2[MM 3] Matt Molloy. Stony Steps. Matt Molloy (flute).View album details
~199910#2[MtRd] various. The Mountain Road. A Compilation of Tunes Popular in South Sligo. View album details
~20017#2[AtR 2] At the Racket. Mirth-Making Heroes. John Carty (fiddle, banjo), Brian McGrath (banjo, piano, keyboards), Seamus O'Donnell (flute, saxophone, vocals), Garry O'Briain (guitar, mandocello, piano), Brid Dooley (vocals).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 #1505 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #235 in [CRE 2] Breandán Breathnach. Ceol Rince na hÉireann 2.
On page 152 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [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