Roscommon Jig: A Song History
In the Traditional Tune Archive and irishtune.info, "Roscommon Jig" is one of many names for a double jig in D Mixolydian with two repeated parts, a tune better known as The Hag's Purse (Sparán Airgid na Caillí).[1][2][3] It also turns up as Tumble the Tinker, The Diamond Jig and The Tulla Jig, among other titles.[1][2] The Traditional Tune Archive's "Roscommon Jig" setting comes from Anne Sheehy of Castleisland, County Kerry, as printed in Mulvihill's first collection of 1986.[1]
William Strang, Tinkers, etching, 1882. Tinkers on the road, shown for the tune's other name, "Tumble the Tinker"; it has no connection to the tune.
The Tune Archive suggests the jig may be Irish in origin, but it gives Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) as its first appearance in print, under the name "Diamond."[1] Breandán Breathnach published it as The Hag's Purse in the first volume of Ceol Rince na hÉireann (1963), taking it from the accordion player Sonny Brogan, and the Clare whistle player Micho Russell knew it as Little Black Pig.[3][1] The oldest recording indexed by irishtune.info is a 1926 melodeon performance by Frank Quinn; later versions came from De Dannan, the Tulla Céilí Band and the concertina players John Joe Casey and Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh, though sources differ on whether the De Dannan album dates from about 1976 or 1978.[2][3] Aaron O'Rourke includes a "Roscommon Jig" in DAD tuning in Irish Session Tunes, Volume 2, a Fingers Of Steel book of mountain dulcimer arrangements with a short introduction to Irish session playing; because the listing gives only the title, matching his setting to this jig rests on the name alone.[4]
Sources
- The Traditional Tune Archive: "Roscommon Jig (The)".
- Irish Traditional Music Tune Index (Alan Ng): "Hag's Purse, The".
- The Traditional Tune Archive: "Hag's Purse (The)".
- Fingers Of Steel: "Aaron O'Rourke, Irish Session Tunes, Volume 2".
- Image: William Strang, Tinkers, etching, 1882. The Cleveland Museum of Art.