Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 207 (Boys of Bluehill)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Hornpipe32AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Boys of Bluehill
 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 IDM 1 (track 15) (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):
Boys of Bluehill, The / Boys of Bluehill / Boys of Blue Hill / Buachaillí an Chnoic Ghoirm / Beaux of Oak Hill / Beaux of Oakhill / Lads of North Tyne (compare Jimmy Keane composition Bluehill on Boh 4, included here; compare old-time tune Keep the Ark A' Movin included here)
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
193415#1[IDM 1] various. Irish Dance Music. View album details
19375#2[IDM 2] various. Past Masters of Irish Dance Music. View album details
19611.8#2[MGm] Michael Gorman. The Sligo Champion. The Fiddle Music of County Sligo. Michael Gorman (fiddle, vocals).View album details
~19742#1[SE 3] Séamus Ennis. The Wandering Minstrel. Seamus Ennis (pipes).View album details
~197411#1[GP] various. The Gentlemen Pipers. Classic Recordings of Irish Traditional Piping. View album details
~198913#2[JOL 2] Johnny O'Leary. An Calmfhear. The Trooper. Johnny O'Leary (accordion).View album details
19922.7#2[SDI 2] various. Set Dances of Ireland. Volume II. Denis McMahon (fiddle), Paudy Scully (flute), Timmy O'Connor (melodeon), Michael Tubridy (flute), Tommy McCarthy (concertina), Eamon McGivney (fiddle).View album details
199316#1[MR 5] Micho Russell. Ireland's Whistling Ambassador. Micho Russell (whistle, vocals).View album details
~199322#2[JCnly] Johnny Connolly. An tOileán Aerach. Johnny Connolly (accordion).View album details
~199512#1[Arc 2] Arcady. Many Happy Returns. Johnny McDonagh (bones, bodhrán, triangle), Nicholas Quemener (guitar, flute, whistle, vocals), Patsy Broderick (piano, keyboards), Conor Keane (accordion), Brendan Larrissey (fiddle), Niamh Parsons (vocals).View album details
~19968#2[JCt 2] John Carty. Last Night's Fun. John Carty (fiddle, banjo, flute).View album details
~19966#1[GOh] Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin. Traditional Music from Clare and Beyond. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (concertina, whistle).View album details
~19966#3[GOh] Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin. Traditional Music from Clare and Beyond. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin (concertina, whistle).View album details
~199915#1[OMT] Billy McComiskey, Brendan Mulvihill, and Zan McLeod. One More Time. Billy McComiskey (accordion), Brendan Mulvihill (fiddle), and Zan McLeod (guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, bass).View album details
~20047#1[Boh 4] Bohola. 4. Jimmy Keane (piano accordion, vocals, foot), Sean Cleland (fiddle), Pat Broaders (dordan, vocals), Kat Eggleston (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 #1700 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #898 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #183 in volume 3 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As tune #74 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." [available]
On page 197 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As tune #120 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
On page 155 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
On page 54 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
On page 73 of [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. [available]
On page 75 of [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. [available]
As other #7 in [Ng] Alan Ng. Alan Ng's Transcriptions. [available]
In [FMH] Tom Hastings. The Feis Musicians Handbook [sic].
On page 199 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As hp #7 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #51 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 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.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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