Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 2875 (Babes in the Wood)

RhythmBarsMode
Polka32G Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of Babes in the Wood
 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):
Babes in the Wood, The / Port an tSaoir Cloiche / Tom Morrison's / Tony Lowe's Polka / Matt Teehan's 1 / Din Tarrant's No. 2 (also reversed parts, also in D Major) (for dance Walls of Limerick in book MM; for dance The Waves of Tory in book A) (compare 2nd part with 2nd part of Magic Slipper #1181)
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
19741#1[CC] Bernard O'Sullivan and Tommy McMahon. Clare Concertinas. Bernard O'Sullivan (concertina), Tommy McMahon (concertina) except where solos noted.View album details
~1978A.6#1[NF] Joe Shannon, Johnny McGreevy. The Noonday Feast. Joe Shannon (pipes), Johnny McGreevy (fiddle).View album details
199712#1[SCAC] Séamus Creagh, Aidan Coffey. Séamus Creagh, Aidan Coffey. Séamus Creagh (fiddle), Aidan Coffey (accordion).View album details
~20033#2[JCt 4] John Carty. At It Again. John Carty (fiddle).View album details
~20067#1[JOSe] Jimmí Ó Sé. Malairt Poirt ó Fionntrá. Jimmí Ó Sé (accordion, vocals).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 #120#2 in [A] Hugh McDermott. Allan's "Irish Fiddler." [available]
As misc #36 in [MM] Martin Mulvihill. First Collection of Traditional Irish Music.

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): 1962