Sergeant Early’s Dream

Reel, D Dorian, traditional Irish
Also known as Sgt. Early’s Dream
TrailJams Tune of the Week: March 31, 2024; February 1, 2026

A strong and haunting Irish reel. This tune was among those collected in Chicago by Francis O’Neill and James O’Neill, and published in their O’Neill’s Music of Ireland in 1903. Played in the key of D Dorian, this tune reel gives tin whistle players a good reason to get out their C whistles.

• Audio – Ryan Molloy & Fergal Scahill: Sergeant Early​’​s Dream & The White Fairy – fiddle and piano. From the album One Day :: November Woods. Also published as video.
• Audio – George Penk, Clyde Curley, Susan Songer: The Carraroe / Sergeant Early’s Dream – from the album A Portland Selection 2 (Portland, Oregon). Also published as video.
• Video – Kate McNamara: Sergeant Early’s Dream / The Plough and the Stars – played live on concertina, Catskill Irish Arts Week, East Durham, NY, July 2009

Sheet Music

As always for traditional tunes, the musical notation and chords do not indicate the “right” way to play the tune, but are a useful reference.

About the D Dorian mode and the C-sharps in this version: This tune is in the D Dorian mode, which has all of the notes of the C major scale, with no sharps or flats. Nonetheless, the tune is commonly played with some C-sharp notes, as in this version. If you are playing the tune with other musicians, you may need to negotiate whether or not some of the C notes are “sharped.” For a brief and friendly explanation of the Dorian mode, see this article: Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell. A note to tin whistle players: this tune, in D Dorian, is usually played on a C whistle.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Kelp Reel Set: Sergeant Early’s Dream (D Dorian) / The Porthole of the Kelp (D Dorian) / The Maids of Mitchelstown (D Dorian)
• Sergeant Early’s Reel Set: Sergeant Early’s Dream (D Dorian) / The Maids of Mitchelstown (D Dorian) / Julia Delaney’s (D Dorian)
• Sergeant Early’s Dream/ Porthole of the Kelp/ The Torn Jacket

References and Resources

For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.

• More Recordings
  • Audio – Randal Bays and Joel Bernstein: The Lane to the Glen / Sgt. Early’s Dream – from the album Pigtown Fling (Seattle, Washington)
  • Audio – Gabriele Caporuscio: The Clare Set: Sergeant Early’s Dream/ Porthole of the Kelp/ The Torn Jacket (Reels) – from the album Stranger at the Gate (Rome, Italy)
  • Video – Eric Skye: Sergeant Early’s Dream – Flatpicking Acoustic Guitar – solo on guitar, played in F Dorian. (Portland, Oregon)
• Books
  • Book – Susan Songer with Clyde Curley: The Portland Collection, Volume 2 – Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest
  • Book – Francis O’Neill and James O’Neill: The Dance Music of Ireland (published 1907)
  • Book – Francis O’Neill and James O’Neill: O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (published 1903)
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Baron Collins-Hill (MandoLessons): Sergeant Early’s Dream – mandolin tutorial with video, sheet music, and play-along tracks
• Additional Resources
  • Article – Jonathan Lay (TrailJams): Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell
  • Webpage – The Session: Sergeant Early’s Dream – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and other information
  • Webpage – The Irish Traditional Music Tune Index (irishtune.info): Sergeant Early’s Dream – archival information about the tune, curated by Alan Ng