The Peacock’s Feather #2

Hornpipe, D Major, Traditional Irish
TrailJams Tune of the Week for July 22, 2021; November 19, 2023

This traditional Irish hornpipe is the second of two companion tunes named The Peacock’s Feather. The first one, in its minor key, sets the stage so that this second tune can dazzle and strut in its major key.

Recordings

• Video – The Peacock’s Feathers, played by Katherine Liley from Skye and Martin Macdonald
• Audio – Jim Doherty: Jim McFadden’s & The Peacock’s Feather (germans / barndances) – Solo fiddle, with detailed sheet music for fiddle. On Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí, the Donegal Fiddle Music website. (The Peacock’s Feather #2 starts at time 1:31 in this recording.)
• Audio – Seamus Begley & Sisin Mac Diarmada, Hornpipes: the Peacock’s Feather / the Fairies’ Hornpipe – from the album An Irish Christmas Soundscape. (The pitch in this recording is ½ step off of standard tuning.)

Sheet Music (Dots)

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.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Peacock’s Feather Hornpipe Set: The Peacock’s Feather #1 (D Dorian) / The Peacock’s Feather #2 (D)

Other Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – The Peacock’s Feathers, played by Katherine Liley and Martin Macdonald This is a very clear video of fiddle and guitar, played at a moderate tempo for the sake of learning the tune.
  • Video – Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn: Peacock’s Feather (Hornpipe) – from the album Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn (Masters of Irish Music). The pitch of this recording puts the tonic at D#/Eb. The recording includes The Peacock’s Feather #1 and #2.
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Marla Fibish (Peghead Nation): The Peacock’s Feather (#2) – mandolin lesson; part of the Irish Mandolin with Marla Fibish course. (Requires a subscription to Peghead Nation.)
• Additional Resources
  • Webpage – The Peacock’s Feather (Hornpipe) in D Major – sheet music provided by McDermott’s Handy
  • Webpage – The Traditional Tune Archive, Peacock’s Feather (2) D Major – sheet music
  • Webpage – Henrik Norbeck’s ABC Tunes, The Peacock’s Feather, D Major – sheet music and ABC