Irish Rebel Songs on the Tin Whistle

Rebel songs occupy a specific place in Irish tradition: ballads written about rebellions, executions, and the people caught up in them, sung in pubs and at sessions long after the events themselves became history. They tend to be slow, melodic, and built for a voice to carry a story, which also makes several of them very well suited to a tin whistle. Three worth learning are covered here, with the history kept short and the politics left where they belong, in the past.

Why this repertoire suits the whistle

Rebel ballads were written to be sung, usually by one voice carrying a single melodic line with no harmony underneath it, which is exactly the kind of music the tin whistle reproduces most naturally. Unlike a fast session reel, these tunes rarely demand technical ornamentation or speed; what they ask for instead is the same thing a good singer brings to them, a steady tone and phrasing that follows the words even when you are not singing them aloud. That makes this genre a good test of breath control and expression for a player who already has the plain notes of a tune under their fingers and wants to work on how a melody is shaped, rather than how fast it can be played.

The Foggy Dew

"The Foggy Dew" was written by Canon Charles O'Neill, a Catholic priest, some years after the 1916 Easter Rising, and set to an older Irish air. The song describes the Rising from the perspective of someone who watched Irishmen fight and die in Dublin that Easter week, and it became one of the most widely sung ballads to come out of that period.

Musically, it is a slow air that covers real ground: the tab moves from a low d up into the second octave as high as g+, and it calls for a C natural at least once, a note that needs a cross-fingering rather than the plain C# most tunes use (the sharps and flats guide covers the fingering if it is new to you). That combination of range and one less common accidental is why it sits at intermediate rather than easy. This site's tab also carries a backing track, so you can hear how the phrasing should breathe before you try matching it yourself.

Roddy McCorley

"Roddy McCorley" tells the story of a young United Irishman executed in 1800 for his part in the 1798 Rebellion, hanged, according to the song, on a bridge in Toome. Unlike The Foggy Dew's reflective, mournful tone, this one moves with more of a marching pulse, matching its subject: a young man walking to his execution with defiance rather than despair.

On this site it is rated intermediate. The melody stays mostly in the low octave, reaching only briefly up to d+ and e+, but like The Foggy Dew it calls for a C natural, so the same cross-fingering is worth having ready. Its steadier, more marching rhythm makes it a reasonable next step once a slower air feels comfortable, since it asks for rhythmic confidence more than range.

Come Out Ye Black and Tans

"Come Out Ye Black and Tans" was written by Dominic Behan and refers to the Black and Tans, the auxiliary police force recruited by the British government and deployed in Ireland during the War of Independence (1919 to 1921), remembered for their often brutal conduct toward civilians during that conflict. The song itself is more recent than the events it describes and has a defiant, almost cheeky tone rather than a solemn one, closer to a marching pub song than a lament.

It is rated easy on this site despite reaching up to f#+ in a few phrases, because the melody is short, repetitive, and stays in the regular D-scale throughout, with no C natural or other accidental to catch you out. That makes it a reasonable entry point into this style of ballad if you are newer to the whistle.

Try Come Out Ye Black and Tans

A song still missing

"Sean South of Garryowen," a ballad about a young man killed in a 1957 border raid, is a well-known part of this repertoire that does not yet have a tab on this site. If it is one you would like to see added, request it and, like every open request, it moves up the queue as more players vote for it.

Questions players ask

Are rebel songs still commonly played at sessions?

Yes, though etiquette varies by session and by room. Some sessions welcome them freely; others reserve them for specific moments or leave them out entirely. It is worth reading the room, or asking, before you strike one up somewhere new.

Do these songs need a specific whistle key?

All three sit comfortably on a standard D whistle. None require a low whistle or a whistle in a different key to reach a comfortable range.

Which one should I learn first?

Come Out Ye Black and Tans, if you want the simplest melody to start with. The Foggy Dew is the better choice if you already have some experience with slow airs and want to work on phrasing and breath control.