Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#1520 (Father Tom's Wager)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording FR (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double jig | 32 | AABB | G Major |
Father Tom's Wager / Fr Tom's Wager / Close to the Floor / Paddy O'Brien's Jig / Paddy O'Brien's / Michael Hynes'
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.
Click 
to hear the first 12 seconds.
to hear the first 12 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| ~1962 | 8#2 | [BG 1] Bobby Gardiner. Memories of Clare. Bobby Gardiner (accordion). |
| 1976 | 14#2 | [JCC] Jack and Charlie Coen. The Branch Line. Jack Coen (flute), Charlie Coen (concertina). |
| ~1978 | 13#1 | [MMlny 1] Mick Moloney with Eugene O'Donnell, Joe McKenna, Shelley Posen, Patrick Sky. Mick Moloney with Eugene O'Donnell, Joe McKenna, Shelley Posen, Patrick Sky. Mick Moloney (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bouzouki), Eugene O'Donnell (fiddle), Joe McKenna (pipes, whistle), Patrick Sky (whistle), Shelley Posen (concertina, vocals, guitar). For this tune: Mick Moloney (mandolin), Eugene O'Donnell (fiddle). |
| ~1979 | 8#1 | [FR] Joe Burke, Andy McGann, and Felix Dolan. The Funny Reel. Traditional Music of Ireland. Joe Burke (accordion), Andy McGann (fiddle), Felix Dolan (piano). |
| 1997 | 8#2 | [JDr 3] Joe Derrane. The Tie that Binds. Joe Derrane (accordion). For this tune: with Kevin Crawford (flute). |
| 1998 | 17#2 | [JWh 6] John Whelan. Come to Dance. John Whelan (accordion). |
| 2003 | 11#3 | [LLPQ 2] The London Lasses and Pete Quinn. Track Across the Deep. Karen Ryan (fiddle, whistle), Elaine Conwell (fiddle), Dee Havlin (flute, whistle), Maureen Linane (accordion), Kathleen O'Sullivan (vocals). |
| ~2010 | 5#1 | [NcGvsky] NicGaviskey. Home away from Home. Sean Gavin (flute), Bernadette Nic Gabhann (fiddle), Caitlín Nic Gabhann (concertina), Sean McComiskey (accordion). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune 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 #1005 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. |
| As tune #220 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. |
| On page 52 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. |
| As tune #23 in [FT] Randy Miller. The Fiddler's Throne. |
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