Annotation:Dusty Bob (1)
Back to Dusty Bob (1)
DUSTY BOB'S [1] (JIG). AKA and see "Jack's Alive (3)," "Rob Roy (2)." English, American, Jig. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB'. Although the "Dusty Bob's" title is American, the tune was first published in England under the alternate title "Jack's Alive," by Rutherford in the mid-18th century. The "Jacks Alive" title with the "Dusty Bob" melody appears several 18th and early 19th century publications in Ireland, England and Scotland (see note for "Jack's Alive (2)"). The first strain is a variant of "The Kesh Jig" (or vice-versa). Philippe Varlet discovered the tune on a 78 RPM recorded in 1938 by Irish accordion player Terry Lane as part of a medley called simply "Quadrilles." The same tune appears in the Fleishmann index of traditional Irish music as "Miser (The)," from Kane O'Hara's comic opera Midas, London, 1764.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 72. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 103. Sannella, Balance and Swing. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; p. 29. White's Unique Collection, 1896; No. 13, p. 3.
Recorded sources: Front Hall Records FHR-03, Dudley Laufman--"Swinging on a Gate."
