Here are a few tunes for the season, gleaned from some dusty books and an even dustier memory. They are written out in TeX. In order to print them out, you will need Daniel Taupin's Music TeX, which is a macro package built on top of TeX. (So you will also need TeX.) Music TeX, along with the necessary fonts, is available at various ftp sites. Look for the file musictex-498.tar.Z. (Figuring that lots of people don't have Music TeX--or any TeX--I have also included a PostScript file of the Music TeX output.) [Note: Music TeX is now available from celtic.stanford.edu] The Music TeX file was generated from a quite simple input file by Chris Walshaw's program abc2tex. Notation: the tie/slur marker just under or over a note indicates a roll or cran. Triplets and quadruplets are indicated by a 3 or 4 just under or over the beam. THE TUNES Jigs: Christmas Day in the Morning: I first learned this jig from Paddy Haverty, of Killimor, Co. Galway, who called it The Munster Buttermilk. Since I already played another jig of the name, I just called it "Paddy Haverty's". But some sleuthing in Breathnach's Ceol Rince na hEireann uncovered the fact that someone else called it Siamsa Mhuilte Farannain--and also--which is the reason for including it here--Christmas Day in the Morning. It has a lot of lift--great tune for dancing. It also sounds good when transposed down to D. Oiche Nollag: a single jig version of the reel Boys of Ballinahinch/Strawberry Blossom. It is in vol. 1 of Ceol Rince na hEireann. A Merry Christmas: I haven't seen this except in O'Neill's. It's a nice open jig. Reels: Christmas Eve: This fine reel is often called Tommy Coen's, because (why else?) it was written by Tommy Coen of Co. Galway. It has been recorded several times--e.g. Chieftains 10, Delores Keane and John Falkner--and is often heard in sessions--a tune for all seasons, not just Christmas. How We Spent the Christmas: this reel is in O'Neill's collection "Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melodies". New Year's Night: This reel is also in Waifs and Strays. O'Neill got it from the piper Barney Delaney, and apologized for not having included it in his earlier collections. It's worth checking out--it is the kind of simple-but-interesting tune which goes so well on whistle, flute or pipes. Hornpipe: The Christmas Hornpipe: This is in Coles 1000 Fiddle Tunes. More of an English than Irish tune, by the sound of it. John Walsh (walsh@math.ubc.ca)