Annotation:Jimmy's Favorite Jig

Back to Jimmy's Favorite Jig

JIMMY'S FAVORITE JIG. Canadian, American; Jig. USA, New England. Canada; Ontario, Québec, Prince Edward Island. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Jarman, Sannella): AABB' (Perlman): AA'B'B' (Begin/Girdwood): AA'BB'A" (Begin/Bruneau). The tune has been credited to Manitoba fiddler Andy Dejarlis [1] and to Toronto fiddler Jim Magill (1905-1954, born in Northern Ireland), although the preponderance of evidence is that it is a Magill composition. It has been widely disseminated among Canadian musicians (and is sometimes mistaken for a tune from the Maritime Provinces), and American contra-dance musicians.

Sources for notated versions: button accordion player Philippe Bruneau (Quebec) [Begin]; Sterling Baker (b. Mid-1940's, Morell, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island; now resides in Montague) [Perlman]; fiddler Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ottawa Valley, Ontario) [Begin].

Printed sources: Begin (Fiddle Music in the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 44, p. 53. Begin (Philippe Bruneau), 1993; No. 26, p. 40. Jarman (Jim Magill's Square Dance Tunes); No. or p. 12. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 124. Sannella, Balance and Swing (CDSS).

Recorded sources: F&W Records 1, "F&W String Band" (1969).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear Don Messer's recording at Ted McGraw's site [3], preceded by another Magill composition, "Bride of the Wind").

Back to Jimmy's Favorite Jig