Key signature: Dmajor
Submitted on June 16th 2002 by B Rad .
This tune has been added to 238 tunebooks.
Also known as An Garda Nua, Belles Of Tipperary, Bells Of Tipperary, The Bells Of Tipperary, Michael Dwyer's Favorite, The New Policeman.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Belles Of Tipperary, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|:dA ~A2 DEFA | defe dBBA | ~B2 AF ABde | fede fe (3eee |
dA ~A2 DEFA | defe dBBA | ~B2 AF ABdB | AFEG FDD2 :||
|:faab afdf | gfed (3Bcd ef | ~g3 f gbag | fgaf egfe |
dB~B2 AF~F2 | DFBF ABdf | gfef dBAF | Aaag fed2 :||
Ask My Father
Got his one from the demo mp3's posted on the Ask My Father site, It's got a different chord structure than most other tunes & lot's of tricky turns. Nice tune
# Posted on June 16th 2002 by B Rad
Good god, Brad. What the HELL were you doing there and how the hell did you find out about the website already? I was hoping to hide those mp3s from you and everyone else...eek!
This tune is also known as The New Policeman. The setting is Shannon Heaton's.
Zina
Zina
# Posted on June 16th 2002 by Zina Lee
The girl so nice, they named her twice. sorry about that.
zls
# Posted on June 16th 2002 by Zina Lee
Ask My Father
Well you posted the URL, I found a tune - I never heard & liked it. So I grabbed my fiddle & learned it. Figured I'd share it with everyone. I liked the AMF mp3's, it wasn't too over-produced - which is good for a demo. It is impressive that Dirk has only been at the UP's for two or so years. I've heard Colorado's dry climate & altitude make the pipes difficult to play there. Surely he played whistle or something before hand, right? Good job yourself zina, it seems like you already have a lot of tunes in your arsenal. Good luck with the band & have fun w/ it.
Toodles
# Posted on June 17th 2002 by B Rad
ps Is this how you play it or did I flub some notes?
# Posted on June 17th 2002 by B Rad
Well, if you'll all pardon me for a moment, I'm going to go kill Glauber for posting the site in the link section. *grin*
Colorado is a horrible place to be a piper; when Scoiltrad came to town, we warned Eoin, and he smiled and seemed to think it would be all right, but he was amazed at the end of three days at exactly how bad it was. I expect to hear some truly mighty stuff come from Dirk's pipes in the next years. (No pressure or anything, Dirk. *snicker) He played jazz saxophone before this -- insofar as I know, nothing Irish until he decided that the pipes were for him...he played the whistle while waiting for his pipes to arrive and I think that was it.

Thanks for being kind about the mp3s, Brad. I suppose it was only a matter of time before people found out exactly how poor a player I really am! Anyway, we figure that at this point we're good enough for weddings and parties and such (since people are booking us, anyway, which surprised the heck out of us) -- none of us ever want to tour or do full-fledged shows.
Dirk IS quite impressive, isn't he? His version of O'Farrell's Welcome is my favorite track of the six, frankly, but maybe that's because I don't play on that track at all.
That's more or less how we play it, Brad, close enough -- there's an almost exact transcription on the SCTLS site if you want to be fussy about it.
Anyway, thanks for the good wishes.
Zina
# Posted on June 17th 2002 by Zina Lee
Different version of Belles of Tipperary
Here's a different version of this tune that I found in an old public domain collection of New England fiddle music (circa 1970 I think). The B-b leaps are quite distinctive in this version.
D3E FA A2|defe dBBd|BdAd Bb b2|afde fe e2|
DCDE FA A2|defe dBBd|BdAd Bb b2|afde fd d2:|
|:a3b afed|gfed fd d2|BdAd Bb b2|afde fe e2|
a3b afed|gfed fd d2|BdAd Bb b2|afde fd d2:||
trevor macsheoinin
# Posted on November 23rd 2002 by Trevor Jennings
First notes played an octave down
The first notes of bars 1 and 5 are normally played an octave lower than what you have here, i.e.: DB, ~B,2
# Posted on February 12th 2003 by pchaffee
Oops
Sorry, I meant DA, ~A,2
# Posted on February 12th 2003 by pchaffee
Belles of Tip
On andy McGann & Paddy Reynold's album they did do the dA~A2 an octave lower. Here's where the funny thing about tunes comes in... If I'm not mistaken Zina & Co. learned this tune from Shannon Heaton who is a great flute player, the flute would play those notes an octave higher. I first learned the tune from Zina & that's the setting I ended up with. It's normal for the flute, weaker for the fiddle but neithers right or wrong.
# Posted on February 25th 2003 by B Rad
Brad's right on all counts -- yes, we did learn it from a fluter, Shannon Heaton, who I believe learned it from John Williams (the alive box player), but could be wrong about that. I've heard it the other way as well, but like the way it sounds as Shannon taught it to us, especially as I normally play with a piper (Dirk) who would also play it that way naturally.
# Posted on February 26th 2003 by Zina Lee
Seemed fairly plain to me that a flute, whistle or piper was the source of this version. They, of course, have to bend the tune back above D. On the other hand, it's not necessarily the case that "neithers right or wrong." If a tune really does start out going below D, and especially if bending it back above sounds weird, then I'd say the tune actually goes below D. So, if one's instrument allows, one should learn/play it the way it "actually goes." Since I don't have any insight on which way this tune "actually goes," I can't say here. But that doesn't mean there isn't a right way to play it. 8^)
# Posted on February 28th 2003 by pchaffee
Here is another version I have found, under the name New Policeman. It is a transcription of an old recording (early 1970-ish)by the Sligo flautist Seamus Tansey.
M:C|
L:1/8
K:D
DA,~A,2 DEFA|defe dB (3BBB|BAFA AB{Bc}BA|FEDE FEE2|
DA,~A,2 DEFA|defe dB (3BBB|~d3B ABdB|AFEG FED2:|
|:~a3b afdf|(3gfe fd cde2|(3gbg ef gbag|(3fff gf e4|
dB~B2 AF~F2|DF~F2 ABde|(3fff ec dBAF|GFEG FED2:||
Trevor
# Posted on April 11th 2003 by Trevor Jennings
This tune is absolutely gorgeous. I love it because it goes exactly where I want to hear it going, without being too predictable, if you know what I mean. I didn't even have to even sit down and learn it because I'd heard it played so many times in sessions that it was in my head just ready to play, every note of it.
# Posted on October 30th 2004 by Dr. Dow
I suppose I should post my setting while I'm here.
|:DA,~A2 DEFA|defe dBBA|B2AF ABdf|afde fee2|
dA~A2 DEFA|d2fe dBBA|B2AF A2dB|AFEG FDD2:|
|:faab afdf|gfed (3Bcd ef|g2gf gbag|fgaf effe|
dB~B2 AF~F2|DFBF ABdf|afef dBAF|A2ag fdd2:|
# Posted on October 30th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Isn't this tune just another setting of Miss Monaghan?
# Posted on October 30th 2004 by slainte
No.
# Posted on October 30th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Re: the new policeman
The New Policeman is the name of another tune as well that is also called Michael Dwyers Favorite. And it is this New Policeman that is on Take a Bow
# Posted on June 7th 2006 by Elda Rose
For a separate posting of the setting in Trevor's 1st comment, go here http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/5998. It's in Cmaj rather than D, but with the distinctive octave leaps Trevor mentioned, it's recognisably the same tune.
# Posted on July 21st 2006 by Dr. Dow
Another version
Picked this up from a recording by a piper (Michael Cooney)
X: 1
T: Belles Of Tipperary, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: Reel
K: Dmaj
|:D ~A3 DEFA | defe dBBA | B2 AF ABde | fede fe e2 |
D ~A3 DEFA | defe dBBA | B2 AF ABdB |1 AFEG FDDA :|2 AFEG FDD f |
|:~a3b afdf | gfed (3Bcd ef | g2 gf gbag | faaf egfe |
dB~B2 AF~F2 | D ~F3 ABdf |1 afec dBAF |ABde fdd f :|2 afec dBAF | EFGE FDDA ||
"Variation in B part 3rd measure for second time thru"
|:~a3b afdf | gfed (3Bcd ef | gdBd gbag | faaf egfe |
dB~B2 AF~F2 | D ~F3 ABdf | afec dBAF | EFGE FDDA||
# Posted on December 9th 2007 by tin_whistler
http://www.soundlantern.com/UpdatedSoundPage.do?ToId=23189
first tune in the set, I started off with the high bar
# Posted on November 30th 2008 by B Rad
The Belles Of Tipperary
Here it is by Tom Doorley. The second tune
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqWMn6RnWCA
# Posted on April 5th 2009 by bogman
The New Policeman
X: 1
T: New Policeman, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmaj
|:D2 FA D2 FA | defe dBBA | B2 AF ABde | f2 ed fe e2 |
dA A2 DEFA | defe dBBA | B2 AF ABdB | AFEG FD D2 :||
|:faaf afdf | gfed (3Bcd ef |g3f gbag | faaf egfe |
dB B2 AF F2 | DF F2 ABdf | afef dBAF | A2 ag fd d2 :||
# Posted on June 14th 2009 by JACKB
The Belles Of Tipperary
Such a great tune. Here it is by Síle & Bríd Ní Mhaonaigh and Pat Marsh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR_c7Ca-fAU&playnext_from=TL&videos=w3H1NkkhwPo&feature=grec
It's the second tune from about 1.08
# Posted on May 17th 2010 by bogman
I play it with mrs galvins reel
# Posted on July 19th 2010 by fiddlebanjoman12
New Policeman
There's a great book by Kate Thompson, aimed at young adults, but good fun for adults too called, The New Policeman about a young fiddle player in Ireland. At the end of every chapter there is the sheet music for a tune. That's how I learned this one.
Funny, I've seen another reel, in G, by the same name . . .
# Posted on September 2nd 2010 by Leah W
The Belles Of Tipperary
Got to love this tune. Here it is by Vinnie Kilduff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqUcxsja1Uw
# Posted on November 13th 2010 by bogman