Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

The Donegal Tinker

reel

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on June 22nd 2003 by banjoscout.

This tune has been added to 73 tunebooks.

Also known as The Jolly Tinker, Kevin Griffin's.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

After The Morning by Alan Kelly
An Irish Evening by The Chieftains
An Tris Is A Rian by Claire Keville, John Weir And Eithne Ni Dhonaile
Atlantic Wave by Paddy Reynolds, Charlie Mulvihill, James Keane, Felix Dolan
Augusta: 20 Years Of Irish Music Recorded Live At The Augusta Heritage Center by Various Artists
Cathal Hayden by Cathal Hayden
Ceol Tire by Various Artists
Circular Breath by Gordon Duncan
Close To The White Bear by Dave Swarbrick And Simon Nicol
Craic Of Dawn by An Tor
Cuisle by Angela Deane
Dig With It by Randal Bays, Dave Marshall And Willie Bays
Down From Bell Harbour by Chris Droney
Farewell To Ireland CD 2 (Of A Box Set Of 4) by Various Artists
Folktrax-077 The Jolly Tinker: Michael Gorman, Irish Fiddler by Michael Gorman
From Ballymote To Brooklyn by Paddy Killoran and James Morrison
Give Us A Penny And Let Us Be Gone by Teada
Happy Days by Trad Lads
High Up - Low Down by Gerry O'Connor
Irish Music In London Pubs by Various Artists
Just For Gordon by Gordon Duncan
Kevin Burke In Concert by Kevin Burke
North-by-NorthWest by Eliot Grasso And Dave Cory
Paddy And Bridget And Their Great Friends 2 by Various Artists
Paddy In The Smoke by Various Artists
Past Masters Of Irish Fiddle Music by Various Artists
Rags, Reels And Airs by Dave Swarbrick
Sean Keane by Sean Keane
Sean Potts by Sean Potts And Paddy Moloney
Set Dances Of Ireland, Volume III by Various Artists
Sligo Fiddle (Disk 2) by John Vesey
Southerly Breeze by Various Artists
The Best Ever Traditional Irish Pub Session Volume Two by Various Artists
The Connachtman's Rambles by Martin O'Connor
The Dusty Miller by Conor, Gay And Seán McKeon
The Home I Left Behind by CCE Tour 1974
The Jolly Tinker by Kane O'Rourke
The Raineys by The Raineys
The Ulster Outcry by Ar Leitheidi
The Wheels Of The World, Early Irish American Music, Vol 2 by Various Artists
The Wheels Of The World, Early Irish American Music, Vol. 1 by Various Artists
The Whirlwind by Paddy Glackin And Robbie Hannan
Time For A Tune With Charlie Lennon by Charlie Lennon
Traditional Irish Music by Setanta
Traditional Irish Music On Flute And Pipes by Brian Holleran And Brian Bigley
Traditional Irish Sessions by Various Artists
Travelling Show by Dervish
Uilleann Piper by Tommy Martin
Unearthed by Paul McGlinchey
Wired by Michael McGoldrick

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Donegal Tinker

This is a mighty tune taken from Cathal Hayden's "Cathal Hayden" CD, first tune, track 4. The second tune on that track is the Dublin Reel. Together they rock. Donegal Tinker is listed as a Gmaj tune, but it may be a Dmix. Either way, the key signature works.

# Posted on June 22nd 2003 by banjoscout

It sounds like a member of the Tinker family (Drunken, Jolly and Yellow).

# Posted on June 23rd 2003 by CreadurMawnOrganig

Donegal tinker

So, what IS it about those tinker tunes??....they all rock. This one, in particular, has been a favourite of mine since I first started playing it last summer....It's one of those big tunes that seem to have an epic sort of quality.

# Posted on June 23rd 2003 by aoife

Dang, that's a fine tune. Just added it to the old tunebook. Might try slapping it together with Cuillian Vallely's "Singing Stream". It has a similar energy.

# Posted on May 12th 2004 by Kerri Brown

Kerri, have a listen to track 4 at http://www.woodstockrecords.com/cathal_cd.html ! Damn fine playing, too...

# Posted on May 12th 2004 by Zina Lee

ABCs for how a fine banjo and fiddle player at our session plays the thing:

X: 1
T: Donegal Tinker, The
N: (possibly from the Gort Session bootleg recordings)
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
d|d|dB cAGc|Addc AGEG |Addc AdcA|GEED CDEG |
Ad (3ddd fd (3ddd|Addc AGEG | Addc AdcA |GEED CDEG ||
AD (3DDD A,DDA|AGAB c2 Bc| ADDD A,CEG|AdcA {F}G4|
AD (3DDD A,DDA|AGAB c2 Bc| ADDD A,CEG|AdcA {F}G4||
d|d|d B c|c|c A |dAAA afga|d|d|d B c|c|c A |Bcef g2 fe|
{c}d|d|d B c|c|c A |dAAA afga|d|d|d B c|c|c A |Bcef gg fg ||
aadd adbd | aada dggd |aada-abad |cdef ggfg|
ad (3ddd adbd|adda-adge|abae gage |cdef gefe||

# Posted on August 25th 2005 by Zina Lee

and let me tell you, that last part was no picnic to transcribe!

# Posted on August 25th 2005 by Zina Lee

So not a picnic, in fact, that I left a bunch of miscellaneous junk in there. Sorry. It's:

dddB cAGc|Addc AGEG |Addc AdcA|GEED CDEG |
Ad (3ddd fd (3ddd|Addc AGEG | Addc AdcA |GEED CDEG ||
AD (3DDD A,DDA|AGAB c2 Bc| ADDD A,CEG|AdcA {F}G4|
AD (3DDD A,DDA|AGAB c2 Bc| ADDD A,CEG|AdcA {F}G4||
dddB ccc A |dAAA afga|dddB cccA |Bcef gg fe|
{c}dddB ccc A |dAAA afga|dddB cccA |Bcef gg fg ||
aadd adbd | aada dggd |aada- abad |cdef ggfg|
ad (3ddd adbd|adda- adge|abae gage |cdef gefe||

# Posted on August 25th 2005 by Zina Lee

Fiddle setting from the Cathal Hayden recording

X: 1
T: The Donegal Tinker
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
d3e cAGc|AddB cAGc|Addc AdcA|GEED CDEG|
Ad (3ddd fd (3ddd|adfd cAGc|Addc AdcA|GEED CDEG||
AD (3DDD AD (3DDD|ADAd cAGc|ADFA ~E3G|AdcA G3c|
AD (3DDD A,D (3DDD|ADAd cAGc|ADFA EDEG|AdcA GcAG||
Ad (3ddd BcAc|dA (3AAA afgf|Ad~d2 ~c3A|cdef g2fe|
d2 (3ddd BcAc|dA (3AAA afgf|Adde ~c3A|cdef g2bg||
ad (3ddd adbd|ad (3ddd adgd|ad (3ddd adfd|^cdef g2fe|
ad (3ddd bd (3ddd |ad (3ddd adfg|abaf gfed|^cdef gefe||

# Posted on February 5th 2011 by Dr. Dow

Some corrections on the Cathal Hayden version:

X: 1
T: The Donegal Tinker
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Dmix
d3d cAGc|AddB cAGc|Addc AdcA|GEED CDEG|
Ad (3ddd fd (3ddd|adfd cAGc|Addc AdcA|GEED CDEG||
AD (3DDD A,D (3DDD|ADAd cAGc|ADFA ~E3G|AdcA G2cG|
AD (3DDD A,D (3DDD|ADAd cAGc|ADFA EDEG|AdcA GcAG||
Ad (3ddd c2Bc|dA (3AAA afgf|Ad~d2 ~c3A|(3Bcd ef g2fe|
d3 d c2Ac|dA (3AAA afgf|Ad (3ddd ~c3A|(3Bcd ef g2fg||
ad (3ddd adbd|ad (3ddd adgd|ad (3ddd ^cdef|g2fg ad 3ddd|
bd (3ddd adfg|a2 fg abaf|gfed ^cdef g2fe||

# Posted on October 27th 2011 by banjobabe

Sorry. I was correcting Dr. Dow's version. The original post was almost identical...Wasn't paying attention...never mind!

# Posted on October 27th 2011 by banjobabe

Hardly corrections. The fiddle and banjo settings are different and of course it's played very differently each time through.

# Posted on October 28th 2011 by Dr. Dow

By the way the barlines in your last part are completely wrong and you've missed 2 whole beats out. You've also got a bar of 6/4 in there. In future, if you're going to make corrections, please take the time to listen and do it properly.

# Posted on October 28th 2011 by Dr. Dow

Another Take

X: 1
T: Donegal Tinker, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
|:d3B cAGc|AddB cAGc |Addc AdcA|GEED E3G |
Ad d2 fd d2|AdFd cAGc | Addc AdcA |GEED E3G ||
|:AD D2 AD D2|ADAd cAGc| ADFA E3G|AdcA G3B|
AD D2 AD D2 |ADAd cAGc| ADFA E3G|AdcA GcAG ||
|:Ad d2 c2 Ac |dA A2 Afgf|dA A2 c3A |(3Bcd ef g2 fg|
d3e BcAc|dA A2 Afgf|dA A2 c3A|(3Bcd ef g2 fg||
|:ad d2 AdBd |ad d2 AdGd|ad d2 Adgd|(3B^cd ef g2 fg|
ad d2 Bd d2 |adfg adfg |abaf gfed |(3B^cd ef gefe||

# Posted on May 17th 2012 by JACKB