Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 1958 (Toss the Feathers)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Reel16ABD Mixolydian
Transcription of first 2 bars of Toss the Feathers
 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 MG (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):
Toss the Feathers / Toss the Feather / Croith na Cleití ("1st Setting" in book 1850) (also doubled)
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
19422#1[MG] various. Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM Era. View album details
~19788(12:59)#11[KB Cap] Kevin Burke. If the Cap Fits. Kevin Burke (fiddle).View album details
~199712#1[PCny] Paddy Canny. Traditional Music from the Legendary East Clare Fiddler. Paddy Canny (fiddle).View album details
20006#2[NR] Charlie Piggott and Gerry Harrington. The New Road. Charlie Piggott (accordion), Gerry Harrington (fiddle).View album details
200211#2[EGrs 1] Eliot Grasso. Standing Room Only. Eliot Grasso (pipes).View album details
~20041#1[JK 4] James Kelly. Melodic Journeys. James Kelly (fiddle).View album details
200613#3[TCB 4] The Tulla Céilí Band. 60th Anniversary Celebration. Mark Donnellan (fiddle), Martin Hayes (fiddle), Jim Corry (piano), Sean Donnelly (accordion), Michael McKee (accordion), J.J. Conway (flute), Jennifer Lenihan (flute), Martin Glynn (flute), Mick Flanagan (drums).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 #1224 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #147 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. [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