Ryan’s Mammoth Collection

Ryan’s Mammoth Collection: 1050 Reels and Jigs, compiled by William Bradbury Ryan and published by Elias Howe in Boston in 1883, stands as one of the most influential fiddle tune collections in American history. This remarkable volume contains skeleton versions of old English, Irish and Scots reels, jigs, hornpipes and clogs, strathspeys and flings, Ethiopian melodies, straight jigs, newly composed tunes with topical titles, and regionally popular or significant instrumental melodies.

The collection captures a snapshot of popular instrumental music and culture in the eastern United States during the formative period for American traditional fiddle music, with most tunes reflecting the repertoire of the 1870s following the Civil War. Later republished in 1940 by M.M. Cole Publishing Co. as “Cole’s 1000 Fiddle Tunes,” it became particularly influential in Canada, New England, and the Midwest. Ryan, who worked for Howe’s publishing company, should be regarded as the first great documentarian of Irish traditional music in the United States, predating the more famous collections of Captain Francis O’Neill.

NOTE: Available as a free download from “Violin Sheet Music” (visit the download link below and search page for Ryan). The last few pages of the download include a modern index of the tunes. Also available from the Pertrucci Music Library (scanned by Violin Sheet Music).Check out Leland’s YouTube channel where he plays all of the Ryan’s Mammoth Collection tunes.