Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1917 (Tobin's Favorite)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Tobin's Favorite
 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 MC (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):
Tobin's Favorite / Tobin's Favourite / Tobin's Fancy / Tobin's Jig / The Wandering Minstrel (1st in set Around the Old Turf Fire on FBros)
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
192813#1[FBros] The Flanagan Brothers. The Tunes We Like to Play on Paddy's Day. Joe Flanagan (accordion), Louis Flanagan (guitar, banjo), Mike Flanagan (banjo, vocals, mandolin).View album details
19341.15#1[MC] Michael Coleman. Michael Coleman 1891-1945. Michael Coleman (fiddle).View album details
~19474#2[ICTM] various. Ireland. Irlande. View album details
19981#1[Chlr] Chulrua. Barefoot on the Altar. Paddy O'Brien (accordion), Tim Britton (pipes, flute, whistle), Pat Egan (guitar, vocals).View album details
~199810#2[FFH] Far From Home. Tri. Turner Collins (accordion, whistle, vocals), Bob Newton (octave mandolin, mandocello, bodhrán, vocals), Daithi Wolfe (fiddle).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 #775 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #52 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 22 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 277 of [FF] David Brody. The Fiddler's Fakebook. [available]
As tune #31 in [DM 2] Dave Mallinson. 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes. [available]
On page 111 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition.
In [FMH] Tom Hastings. The Feis Musicians Handbook [sic].
On page 188 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As jig #129 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #219 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. [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): 1903