Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

The Gold Ring

jig

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on May 21st 2001 by Jeremy.

This tune has been added to 257 tunebooks.

Also known as An F�inne �ir, An Faire, Fainne Oir, Gold Ring.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

A Stone's Throw by Michael Cooney
A Treasury Of Irish Music 2 by Various Artists
An Buachaill Dreoite by Joe Ryan
An Ghaoth Anair (The West Wind) by Na Fili
An Ph�b by Dicky Deegan
An Tobar Gl�é by Neil Mulligan
Are You The Concertina Player? by Kate McNamara
Bealoideas by Oisin
Between The Showers by Grainne Hambly
Beyond Words by Niall Vallely
Call The Tune: Music For The Sets Volume 4 by Various Artists
Ceol Tigh Neachtain - Music From Galway by Various Artists
Champions Of Ireland: Flute by Grainne Kelly And Ciaran Madsen
Cherish The Ladies by Peg McGrath, Kathleen Smyth, Mary Mulholland
Claddagh's Choice: An Anthology Of Irish Traditional Music by Various Artists
Cotton-Eyed Joe by The Chieftains
Dark Of The Moon by Grey Larsen And Paddy League
De Danann by De Danann
Dear Old Erin's Isle: Irish Traditional Music From America by Various Artists
Donal Lunny by Donal Lunny
Down The Ivory Stairs by Padraic O'Reilly
Dublin Banjos by Sully And John Keenan
Fiddle Fair: Declan McCarthy's Baltimore by Various Artists
Foinn Seisiun 3 by Ennis/Dublin Session Group
Foolin' In Doolin by Michael Blackie O'Connell And Karol Lynch
Fortune Favours The Merry by Peter Horan And Gerry Harrington
Gusty's Frolicks by Sean Keane
I GCnoc Na Grai by Noel Hill And Tony MacMahon
In The Footsteps Of Coleman by Various Artists
Irish Traditional Mandoline Ó Life Go Laoi by Fiontán Ó Meachair
It's A Hard Road To Travel by Andy McGann And Paul Brady
Jody's Heaven by Jody's Heaven
Jumping Ahead by Harriet Earis
Kieran O'Hare by Kieran O'Hare
King Of The Concert Flute by Seamus Tansey
Live And Kicking by Swarb's Lazarus
Live From The Katharine Cornell Theater Traditional Irish Music by Various Artists
Masters Of Irish Music by Seamus Ennis
Matt Molloy by Matt Molloy
Memories Of Sligo by Tommy Healy And Johnny Duffy
Morga by Morga
On TSean - Am Anall by Danny O'Donnell
One by Murphy Roche Irish Music Club
Pathway To The Well by Matt Molloy And John Carty With Arty McGlynn
Pluckin' Good by Christy Dunne
Russell's House by Russell's House
Second Album by Boys Of The Lough
Skin And Bow by Declan Folan And Junior Davey
Sligo Fiddle (Disk 1) by John Vesey
Song Of The Chanter by Various Artists
Songs, Jigs, Reels by Glenside And Kilfenora Ceili Bands
Stay Another While by Paul O'Shaughnessy And Frankie Lane
The Back Of Beyond by Kevin Moyna
The Dusty Bridge by Fergal Scahill
The Family Album by The McCarthys
The Fine Art Of Piping by Liam O'Flynn
The Flags Of Dublin by Paddy Glackin, Mick O'Brien And Mick Gavin
The Green Fields Of Ireland by Comhaltas Tour Group 1979
The Irish Concertina by Noel Hill
The Islay Ball by Gary West
The Ladies From Hell by The Black Watch
The Mason's Apron by The Madden Brothers
The Piper's Apron by Tommy Keane
The Piper's Call by Liam O'Flynn
The Pipering Of Willie Clancy. Vol 2 by Willie Clancy
The Pure Box by Colin Nea
The Rakish Paddy by Paddy Cronin
The Return From Fingal by Seamus Ennis
The Spirit Of West Clare by Bobby Casey
The Trip Over The Mountain by Michael Queally And Cyril O'Donoghue
The Wild Keys by Mikie Smyth
The World Pipe Band Championships 2006 by Various Artists
Throw Away The Keys by Brian Mac Aodha
Tiomnacht / Handed On by Eoin O Riabhaigh
To Hell With The Begrudgers by Seamus Tansey And Jim McKillop
Top Of Coom by Conal Ó'Gráda
Touch Me If You Dare by Ronan Browne And Peter O'Loughlin
Traditional Irish Fiddle Music by The Kilfenora Fiddle Ceili Band
Traditional Irish Music by Setanta
Traditional Irish Music (traditional Music Session From Belfast) by Various Artists
Tru The Years by Jim McKillop
Within A Mile O' Jamestown by Mick Mulvey
Yeh, That's All It Is by John Carty

Details ABC Sheetmusic Comments

Don't let the length of the tune scare you; as usual, most parts are simply variations on a theme. Once you've mastered the recurring bits (like the end of each part) then it's simply a matter of remembering the order of the different parts.

There is another (equally long) tune that goes by the same name as this tune but I believe this is the more common gold ring. This tune is also played sometimes with a seventh part.

A recording by Seamus Ennis has him telling a very amusing story as to how this tune came about. The gist of it is that this tune was composed by the fairies, or little people, of Ireland.

# Posted on June 1st 2001 by Jeremy

The version I learnt (and can be found on Conal O Grada's Top of Coom) is a bit different.
It has seven parts, as Jeremy pointed out, and although the first part is identical to his, the other parts are either slightly or quite different.
As posting all the variations separetely would be a bit confusing. I just post the entire version here as a comment. Enjoy.

BAG ~A2d|cAG ~G2A|BAG A2d|cAG FGA|BAG A2d|cAG GBd|~g3 afd|cAF G2A:|
|:~B3 BAG|~A3 AGF|~G3 GFG|ADE FGA|~B3 BAG|~A3 AGF|FDE F2d|1 cAF G2A:|2 cAF G2g||
|:fdd edd|fdd edd|fdd edd|dcA GBd|fdd edd|fdd ed^c|dfa ged|1 cAF G2g:|2 cAF GBd||
fed|cAG FGA|~g3 fed|~g3 fed|~g3 afd|1 cAF GBd:|2 cAF G2E||
GBd|cAG FGA|DBB DBB|DAA DAA|~G3 GBd|1 cAF G2E:|2 cAF G2A||
GBd|cAG FGA|~B3 ~D3|~A3 ~D3|~G3 GBd|cAF G2A:|
A2G|cAG FGA|BAG AGF|GFD FGA|fag fed|1 cAF G2A:|2 cAF G3

# Posted on September 16th 2002 by Toni Ribas

Thanks for that, Toni! I've been thinking I really should learn this one, and it'll be lovely to have Conal's version.

Zina

# Posted on September 17th 2002 by Zina Lee

I can't quite makensense of Toni's version above - I think something must have gone wrong in the posting. This is the setting I am most familiar with:

BAG A2d|cAG ~G3|BAG A2d|cAG FGA|BAG A2d|cAG GBd|gbg afd|cAG G2A:|
|:~B3 Bdc|~A3 dcA|~G3 GFG|ADE FGA|~B3 Bdc|A3 dAG|FDE F2d|1 cAG G2A:|2 c
AG G2g||
|:fdd edd|fdd edd|fdd ed^c|d=cA GBd|fdd edd|fdd ed^c|dfa gfd|1 cAG G2z:|2
cAG GBd||
|:~g3 efd|cAG GBd|~g3 efd|cAG FGA|~g3 efd|~g3 fed|gfg afd|1 cAG GBd:|2 c
AG G2E||
|:DBB DBB|DAA DAA|~G3 GBd|cAG FGA|DBB DBB|DAA DAA|G3 GBd|1 cAF G2E:|2 c
AF G2A||
|:~B3 ~D3|~A3 ~D3|~G3 GBd|cAG FGA|~B3 ~D3|~A3 ~D3|~G3 GBd|cAF G2A:|
|:B2G A2G|d2G G2A|B2G A2G|cAG FGA|BAG AGF|GFD FGA|fag fed|cAF G2A:|

It differs most significantly from Jeremy's version in the 4th and 5th parts, and in the addition of the 7th part. This is based on Henrik Norbeck's transcription, although I have altered a few notes here and there, and reduced the ornamentation somewhat. I have left in all the ~ symbols in the 6th part as I feel the ornamentaion is integral to the tune. Coming from the piping repertoire, the ~D3s in the 6th part are best cranned on pipes, whistle or flute - and there are ways of imitating this on fiddle (listen to Frankie Gavin on De Danann's 1st album) and mandolin/banjo.

There are at least two other jigs called The Gold Ring. One is an entirely different tune, in D, posted recently in The Session. The other appears in O'Neills, and although quite a distinct tune, is clearly of the same family as this one, the final parts of the two tunes being pretty much identical.

# Posted on January 24th 2003 by OrganicPeatCreature

The Gold Ring Piping Version

# Posted on January 27th 2007 by JACKB

A fantastic rendition

Last night I heard Nollaig Casey performing the Gold Ring. What was amazing is how she played pipes on the fiddle! You could even hear the regulators.

# Posted on August 31st 2007 by sixholes

Flugel Horn version

Celtic Jazz man Neil Yates plays this on his flugel horn, sounds fantastic.

# Posted on August 23rd 2008 by Andy.Watt