Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#611 (Farewell to Miltown Malbay)
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reel | 32 | AABB | G Dorian |
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 BC 3 (details in the Discography below).
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
Farewell to Miltown Malbay / Farewell to Miltown / Farewell to Milltown / Bobby Casey's / The Crosses of Annagh (composed by Junior Crehan or Bobby Casey)
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.
| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1971 | 12#1 | [BC 3] Bobby Casey. The Spirit of West Clare. Bobby Casey (fiddle, whistle). |
| 1994 | 9#2 | [MH 2] Martin Hayes. Under the Moon. Martin Hayes (fiddle). |
| ~1994 | 13#2 | [JCt 1] John Carty and Brian McGrath. The Cat that Ate the Candle. John Carty (banjo, fiddle), Brian McGrath (piano, banjo). |
| ~1996 | 11#1 | [MOB] Mick O' Brien. May Morning Dew. Mick O' Brien (pipes, whistle). |
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 #21 in volume 4 of [B&S] D[avid] Bulmer and N[eil] Sharpley. Music from Ireland. 4 vols. |
| As reel #594 in [HN] Henrik Norbeck. Henrik Norbeck's Abc Tunes. |
| As reel #179 in [JKg 3] Josephine Keegan. A Drop in the Ocean. Traditional Irish Tunes Collected by Josephine Keegan. |
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): 1971