“Red Haired Boy” is one of the most widely traveled tunes in the British Isles and North American fiddle traditions, surviving under a long list of alternate titles including “The Little Beggarman,” “An Giolla Rua” (Gaelic for “Red Haired Boy”), “An Carrowath,” “The Auld Rigadoo,” and the anglicized “Gilderoy.” The Gaelic name is generally thought to commemorate a real-life Scottish rogue and bandit of folk legend.
The tune crosses traditions easily — it is played as an Irish hornpipe, as a Scottish or English air or hornpipe, as a Canadian breakdown, and as an American old-time and bluegrass reel, each tradition with its own variations. In Irish settings it is more frequently played in the original hornpipe rhythm; in American old-time and bluegrass settings the tune is typically straightened into a driving reel, often heard in the key of A.
The bluegrass canonical reading was significantly shaped by Tony Rice, whose recordings of the tune set the standard for flatpicked guitar treatment and exposed it to a generation of younger bluegrass players. “Red Haired Boy” has remained a reliable jam-session feature, particularly at jams where Celtic and old-time players cross paths with bluegrass pickers — the tune is one of the most reliable common-ground pieces across those traditions.