Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 211 (Boys of the Town)

RhythmBarsMode
Double jig32G Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Boys of the Town
 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 CC (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):
Boys of the Town, The / Boys of the Town / The Miltown Jig / Milltown Jig (compare St. Patrick's Day #1821 and compare 2nd part with 2nd part of #2129)
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
19749#3[CC] Bernard O'Sullivan and Tommy McMahon. Clare Concertinas. Bernard O'Sullivan (concertina), Tommy McMahon (concertina) except where solos noted.View album details
~19843#3[KB UC] Kevin Burke. Up Close. Kevin Burke (fiddle).View album details
~19872#1[MM 3] Matt Molloy. Stony Steps. Matt Molloy (flute).View album details
~199614#1[DH 1] Dan Herlihy and Friends. The Night of the Fair. Traditional Irish Music from Sliabh Luachra. Dan Herlihy (accordion).View album details
~20022.7#1[WFO 1] various. Wooden Flute Obsession. 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 #825 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #89 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 29 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 97 of [M] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. 3rd Edition.
On page 126 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
On page 164 of [M2] Phil Rubenzer. Midwestern Irish Session Tunes. Millennium Edition.
As jig #13 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [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