Annotation:Jimmy's Favorite Jig

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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' (Bégin/Girdwood): AA'BB'A" (Bégin/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 seems to be that it is a Magill composition. It is credited to Magill in the 1952 book that bears his name published by the Jarman company; however, every tune contained in it is attributed to Magill, even tunes that were known not to have been composed by him. 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) [Bégin]; 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) [Bégin].

Printed sources: Bégin (Fiddle Music in the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 44, p. 53. Bégin (Philippe Bruneau), 1993; No. 26, p. 40. Jarman (Jim Magill's Square Dance Tunes), 1952; No. or p. 12. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 124. Sannella (Balance and Swing), 1982.

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").