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The Irish Traditional Music Tune Index

Tune ID#1398 (Watchmaker)

Transcription of first 2 bars of Watchmaker about these two bars
These two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording A HH (details in the Discography below).
Basic musical information on this tune.
Rhythm ?Bars8-bar phrase structureMode ?
Highland16ABA Dorian
Titles ? given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Watchmaker, The / Neil Gow's Second Wife / Neils Gowan's Second Wife / Neil Gow's Wife [Niel Gow's Wife] / Neil Gow's Highland [Niel Gow's Highland] / Thistle and Shamrock / John Doherty's / The Teelin Highland / John Gaffney's Fling / Con Cassidy's (3rd in set Thistle and Shamrock on MG) (also as reel or strathspey; also 2nd part doubled or with a 3rd part; also in G; misattributed to Frank Higgins in book JKg 3) (compare strathspey Niel Gow's Wife)
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Discography cd

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 play below to hear the first 12 seconds.
Year
Recorded		 Track
#Tune?		 [Album code] Artist. Title (Link to Album Info page). Performers (instruments).
194611#3
[MG] Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. Danny O'Donnell (fiddle).
19883#2
[A HH] Altan. Horse with a Heart. Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (fiddle, vocals), Frankie Kennedy (flute), Paul O'Shaughnessy (fiddle), Ciaran Curran (bouzouki), Mark Kelly (guitar).
198814#2
[DODnl 3] Danny O'Donnell. Bean ag Baint Duilisc. Danny O'Donnell (fiddle).
~19909#2
[PS 3] Patrick Street. Irish Times. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Andy Irvine (vocals, harmonica, mandolin, bouzouki), Gerry O'Beirne (vocals, guitar), James Kelly (fiddle), Declan Masterson (pipes, whistle, keyboards), Jackie Daly (accordion), Arty McGlynn (guitar), Bill Whelan (keyboards).
~19967#2
[KR] Kevin Rowsome. The Rowsome Tradition. Kevin Rowsome (pipes). For this tune: (D pipes).
20067#2
[NNW] Eliot Grasso and Dave Cory. North-by-NorthWest. Eliot Grasso (pipes, flute), Dave Cory (banjo, guitar, octave mandolin).
200711#2
[PotW] John Wynne and John McEvoy. Pride of the West. John Wynne (flute), John McEvoy (fiddle). For this tune: John M. (fiddle).
200711#3
[PotW] John Wynne and John McEvoy. Pride of the West. John Wynne (flute), John McEvoy (fiddle).
~20125#2
[TnGmMss] Mick O'Brien, Emer Mayock, Aoife Ní Bhriain. Tunes from the Goodman Manuscripts. Mick O'Brien (pipes, flute, whistle), Emer Mayock (flute, whistle), Aoife Ní Bhriain (fiddle).
201311#3
[Tda 5] Téada. Ainneoin na Stoirme. In Spite of the Storm. Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle, piano, keyboard), Séamus Begley (vocals, melodeon), Paul Finn (accordion, concertina), Damien Stenson (flute), Seán Mc Elwain (guitar, bouzouki, bass guitar), Tristan Rosenstock (bodhrán). For this tune: Paul (accordion).
201912#2
[Fdl 4] Fidil. Decade. Aidan O'Donnell (fiddle), Ciarán Ó Maonaigh (fiddle), Damien McGeehan (fiddle).

Goes Well with . . .

In the above Discography, this tune is:

Played afterOn Albums
Louden's Bonnie Braes		MG
Little Katey Kearney		A HH
Duchess' Slipper		DODnl 3
Casey's Pig		PS 3
Tie the Ribbons		KR
Rodney's Glory		NNW
Watchmaker		PotW
Balmoral Highlander		PotW
Miss Monaghan		TnGmMss
Porthole of the Kelp		Tda 5
An Chéad Chathlán		Fdl 4
Played beforeOn Albums
Mary O'the Wisp		A HH
Earl of Dalkeith		DODnl 3
Cameron's Wife		PS 3
Watchmaker		PotW
Lucy Campbell		TnGmMss
Spinning Wheel		Tda 5

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 musical matches to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.

Listing of published transcriptions of this tune.
As tune #1539 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #755 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 159 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 194 of [NF] Allen Feldman. The Northern Fiddler. [available]
As reel #233 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan.

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 only the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1903
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2024 Alan Ng. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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