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The Irish Traditional Music Tune Index

Tune ID#1890 (Three Little Drummers)

Transcription of first 2 bars of Three Little Drummers about these two bars
These two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording MG (details in the Discography below).
Basic musical information on this tune.
Rhythm ?Bars8-bar phrase structureMode ?
Double jig32AABBA Dorian
Titles ? given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Three Little Drummers, The / Three Little Drummers / The Little Drummers / The Tenpenny Bit / The Ten-Penny Bit / The Ten Penny Bit / Up Sligo / Cock in the Heath / The Geese in the Bog / The Humours of Duagh / The Jolly Old Wife / Spirits of Whiskey / Billy's Awake (2nd in set The Rocks of Bawn on WW 2) (also in E, also with an extra part either between 1st and 2nd parts or instead of the 2nd part) (compare Matt Teahan's Delight included here which has a different 2nd part)
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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).
191810#1
[JKm] John J. Kimmel. John J. Kimmel. Early Recordings of Irish Traditional Dance Music. John J. Kimmel (accordion).
~191923#1
[PT] Patsy Touhey. The Piping of Patsy Touhey. Patsy Touhey (pipes). For this tune: (C# pipes).
192615#2
[WW 2] The Wheels of the World. Early Irish-American Music. Classic Recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. Vol. 2. Frank Quinn (fiddle), Joe Maguire (accordion).
19264#2
[MG] Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. Frank Quinn (fiddle).
19691.12#1
[MR 10] Micho Russell. Rarities and Old Favorites 1949-1993. Micho Russell (whistle, flute, vocals). For this tune: (whistle), with Gussie Russell (whistle).
~19734#2
[JJK] John and James Kelly with Michael Crehan and Michael Gavin. Irish Traditional Fiddle Music. James Kelly (fiddle), John Kelly (fiddle).
201413#1
[ANCPOC] Aoife Ní Chaoimh, Paudie O'Connor. Didn't She Dance and Dance. Sliabh Luachra Music on Fiddle and Accordion. Aoife Ní Chaoimh (fiddle), Paudie O'Connor (accordion).
~20163#1
[MLostCon] Jesse Smith, Sean Gavin, John Blake. Music from the Lost Continent. Jesse Smith (fiddle), Sean Gavin (flute), John Blake (piano). For this tune: (fiddle), (F flute).
202112#1
[CplySt 2] Nathan Gourley / Joey Abarta / Owen Marshall. Copley Street 2. Nathan Gourley (fiddle), Joey Abarta (B pipes), Owen Marshall (bouzouki).

Goes Well with . . .

In the above Discography, this tune is:

Played afterOn Albums
Basket of Turf		WW 2, MG
Jackson's Jig		JJK
Played beforeOn Albums
Ivy Leaf		PT
Connaughtman's Rambles		JKm
Goat in the Green		ANCPOC
I Will If I Can		MLostCon
Luck Penny		CplySt 2

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 #969 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #189 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #102 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #20 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." [available]
On page 47 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 43 of [RW] Robin Williamson. The Penny Whistle Book. [available]
As tune #138 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As misc #26 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #274 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As jig #127 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As jig #47 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan.
As tune #49 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital 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 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.
© 2000–2025 Alan Ng. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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