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The Irish Traditional Music Tune Index

Tune ID#634 (First of May)

Transcription of first 2 bars of First of May about these two bars
These two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording TDMI (details in the Discography below).
Basic musical information on this tune.
Rhythm ?Bars8-bar phrase structureMode ?
Hornpipe32AABBA Mixolydian
Titles ? given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
First of May, The / An Chéad Lá de Mhí na Bealtaine / The Skillet Pot / Colcannon (also in D Mixolydian or G Mixolydian or A Dorian) (compare jig Fágamaíd sud mar atá sé / Fagamaoid sud mar ata se / Let Us Leave That As It Is, included here; also as song)
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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).
~195324#1
[TDMI] Traditional Dance Music of Ireland. Johnny Doherty (fiddle).
~19999#2
[KR] Kevin Rowsome. The Rowsome Tradition. Kevin Rowsome (pipes). For this tune: (D pipes), with Lorraine (fiddle).
~20034#1
[CarbQ 1] Angelina Carberry and Martin Quinn. Angelina Carberry and Martin Quinn. Angelina Carberry (banjo), Martin Quinn (accordion, melodeon).
20083#1
[NtDay] Brett Lipshutz and Randy Lee Gosa. Night and Day. Brett Lipshutz (flute, whistle, bombarde), Randy Lee Gosa (guitar).
20104#2
[MCnDMn] Mick Conneely and David Munnelly. 'Tis What It Is. Mick Conneely (fiddle, bouzouki), David Munnelly (accordion, melodeon).
~201314#1
[HB 4] Harry Bradley. The First of May. Harry Bradley (flute). For this tune: (Eb flute), with Colm Gannon (melodeon).

Goes Well with . . .

In the above Discography, this tune is:

Played afterOn Albums
Kilcooley Wood		KR
O'Donnell's Hornpipe		MCnDMn
Played beforeOn Albums
Stranger		CarbQ 1
Kitty Lie Over		NtDay
Behind the Ditch in Páirc Anna		HB 4

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 #1708 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #899 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 132 of [IMM] Francis O'Neill. Irish Minstrels and Musicians. [available]
On page 132 of [IMM] Francis O'Neill. Irish Minstrels and Musicians. [available]
As tune #200 in volume 2 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #115 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. [available]
As tune #98 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." [available]
On page 199 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 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.
© 2000–2023 Alan Ng. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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