Sergeant James Early was born in Co. Leitrim during the late 1840s. As a young man, he emigrated to the U.S. where he secured a job in Boston. As a musician, he was already a fine player of the flute and fiddle, but soon decided to try his had with the uilleann pipes. When he moved to Chicago, he was a developing piper who was fortunate to find himself in the company of pipers Patsy Touhey, Barney Delaney, and Captain Francis O’Neill. Very soon his reputation as a kindly, unassuming, patient, tolerant, helpful, and hospitable gentleman impressed many of his peers, including O’Neill, who persuaded him to join the Chicago Police Force in 1874.

 A2 G | FED EFG | AdB =cAG | AGE dde |
 fed cAG | FED EFG | AdB =cAG | FFA GEA |
 DGD D2 A || FDD EFG | AdB =cAG | AGE dde |
 fed cAG | FED EFG | AdB =cAG | FFA GEA |
 DGD D2 A || AB=c AEF | G3 GFG | A2 B =cAG |
 ABc dde | fed cAG | FAF GED | BcA GEA |
 DGD D2 A || AB=c AEF | G2 G GFG | A2 B =cAG |
 ABc dde | fed cAG | FAF GED | dcA GEA |
 DGD D2 G || FDD EFG | AdB =cAG | AGE dde |
 fed cAG | FED EFG | AdB =cAG | FFA GEA |
 DGD D2 G || FDD EFG | AdB =cAG | AGE dde |
 fed cAG | FED EFG | AdB =cAG | FFA GEA |
 DGD D2 A || AB=c AEF | G2 G GFG | A2 B =cAG |
 ABc dde | fed cAG | FFF GED | dcA GEA |
 DGD D2 A || AB=c AEF | G2 G GFG | A2 B =cAG |
 ABc dde | fed cAG | FAF GED | dcA GEA |
 DGD{/A} D3- |