Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 2671 (Jolly Seven)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel24ABBA Dorian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Jolly Seven
 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 KOS (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):
Jolly Seven, The / Cavan Reel (setting on KCB 1 is in E Dorian, both parts singled; parts reversed in O'Neill books) (compare Curragh Races #1185 and compare 1st part with 1st part of Laurel Tree #3672)
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
~195810#3[KCB 1] The Kilfenora Ceili Band. The Fabulous Kilfenora Ceili Band. P.J. Lynch (fiddle), Gus Tierney (fiddle), Jim McCormack (flute), Gerry Lynch (accordion), P. Mullins, T. Eustace, P. Madigan, Kitty Linnane (piano), G. O'Loughlin (drums).View album details
~19818#1[KOS] James Kelly, Paddy O'Brien, Daithi Sproule. Traditional Music of Ireland. James Kelly (fiddle), Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Daithi Sproule (vocals, guitar).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 #1466 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #697 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 144 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As reel #559 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc 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