Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 645 (Flower of the Flock)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel16ABG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Flower of the Flock
 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 BB 1 (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):
Flower of the Flock, The (mislabeled as Famous Ballymote on BB 4; 1st in set Crosses of Armagh on McP BHB) (also in A; also doubled) (compare 1st part with 1st parts of both Bill Harte's #3612 and #3690)
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
19751#3[BB 1] The Bothy Band. 1975. The First Album. Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute, whistle), Tommy Peoples (fiddle), Donal Lunny (bouzouki, vocals), Tríona Ni Dhomhnaill (harpsichord, bodhrán, vocals), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (guitar, vocals).View album details
19781#3[BB 4] The Bothy Band. After Hours. Kevin Burke (fiddle), Paddy Keenan (pipes, whistle), Matt Molloy (flute), Dónal Lunny (vocals, bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (vocals, keyboards, bodhrán), Mícheál Ó Domhnaill (vocals, guitar, keyboards).View album details
19911.2#1[McP BHB] The McPeake Family and Paul Burns. Back Home in Belfast. View album details
~20007#2[DH 3] Dan Herlihy and John Drew. The Ballydesmond Polka. Traditional Irish Music from Sliabh Luachra Played By Dan Herlihy and John Drew. Dan Herlihy (accordion), John Drew (mandocello).View album details
~20044#3[Boh 4] Bohola. 4. Jimmy Keane (piano accordion, vocals, foot), Sean Cleland (fiddle), Pat Broaders (dordan, vocals), Kat Eggleston (vocals).View album details
~20061.12#1[WFO 3] various. Wooden Flute Obsession 3. 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 #1238 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #512 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #184 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [available]
As reel #39 in [Ng] Alan Ng. Alan Ng's Transcriptions. [available]
On page 102 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
As reel #55 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
As tune #52 in [DM 3] Dave Mallinson. 100 Evergreen Irish Session Tunes. [available]
As reel #104 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [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.
© 2000–2009 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
Start at