Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1905 (Thrush in the Straw)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBG Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Thrush in the Straw
 about these two bars

These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording SE 1 (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Thrush in the Straw, The / The Humours of Lisheen / Humours of Lisheen / The Humors of Lisheen / The Woeful Widow / Tommy's Favorite (2nd part in either of 2 different settings) (composed by Charlie Mulvihill?)
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd Discography

Here are all recordings of this tune considering only the indexed recordings. I have discovered by careful listening that these sources are in fact musically the same tune, regardless of the tune titles they use, key changes, retuning, etc. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.

Year
Recorded
Track
#Tune
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). Album details
and contents
~19597#1[SE 1] Seamus Ennis. The Bonny Bunch of Roses. Seamus Ennis (pipes, whistle, vocals).View album details
~19715#2[AW] Paddy Reynolds, Charlie Mulvihill, James Keane, with Felix Dolan. Atlantic Wave. Paddy Reynolds (fiddle), Charlie Mulvihill (accordion), James Keane (accordion).View album details
~19843#1[KB UC] Kevin Burke. Up Close. Kevin Burke (fiddle).View album details
19931.2#3[SDI 2] various. Set Dances of Ireland. Volume II. Denis McMahon (fiddle), Paudy Scully (flute), Timmy O'Connor (melodeon), Michael Tubridy (flute), Tommy McCarthy (concertina), Eamon McGivney (fiddle).View album details
199614#2[SC] Gerry Harrington, Eoghan O'Sullivan, Paul de Grae. The Smoky Chimney. Gerry Harrington (fiddle), Eoghan O'Sullivan (accordion, flute), Paul de Grae (guitar).View album details
~199612#1[MOB] Mick O' Brien. May Morning Dew. Mick O' Brien (pipes, whistle).View album details
20012#1[GrHs] Grey Larsen and Paddy League. The Green House. Grey Larsen (flute, whistle, concertina, harmonium, field organ, piano), Paddy League (bodhrán, guitar).View album details
~20028#2[MaRaf] Mary Rafferty. Hand-Me-Downs. Mary Rafferty (accordion, concertina, flute, whistle).View album details

Bibliography

Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – considering only the indexed books – listed in chronological order. I have discovered by careful comparison that these are very similar to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.

As tune #62 in volume 3 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols.
As tune #213 in [JOL] Terry Moylan. Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra. Dance Music from the Cork-Kerry Border. [available]
As tune #12 in [Cr] Matt Cranitch. The Irish Fiddle Book. [available]
As jig #128 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #45 in [DM 4] Dave Mallinson. 100 Vital Irish Session Tunes. [available]

If you are considering using the above transcriptions to help you learn this tune, I invite you to check these practical Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music. See also: So why do you bother indexing books and abc?

Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1959