Pop Goes The Weasel jig

I’ve played this and danced to it, and I can’t remember anyone not familiar with it, and that includes across Ireland. It was always a kick to play and often teamed up with “Off She Goes”. It works great for the single jig dance “The Marine”, and you will find a description for that in the ’comments for “The Marine”, another single jig. AND, no one ever gave out guff over it, we just got a kick out of playing it. The parts can also be doubled, AABB…

Yeah, me too ~ surprised this wasn’t already here… 😏 😉

X: 2
T: Pop Goes the Weasel
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: single jig
K: GMaj
D |\
G2 G A2 A | BdB G2 D | G2 G ABc | B3 G2 D |
G2 G A2 A | BdB G3 | .e2 z A2 c | B3 G3 |
GFG A^GA | B/c/dB G3 | GDG A2 c | B3 G3 |
G3 A3 | BdB G3 | .e2 z A2 c | B3 G2 ||
d |\
g2 g e2 e | faf d3 | g2 g efg | f3 d3 |
c2 B c2 d | e2 f g3 | .e2 z A2 c | B3 G2 d |
| g2 f ee/f/g | faf d2 f | g2 f e2 g | f2 e d2 B |
c2 G c2 d | e2 c g3 | .e2 z AA/B/c | B3 G2 |]

This also gets played in A.

I’d love to see some different takes on it…

I learned this tune 30 years back from the late Ed Duncan of Arkansas. He said it was a parlor piece, used for showing off and such. He played measure 7 of the A and B parts as follows: left hand pizzacato the e2 and A2, whilst simultaneously turning the bow around in his hand to face the other direction (frog pointing to the left, tip pointing right) in time to play the last c note of the 7th measure and beyond arco. This meant bowing ‘backwards’ (downbow and upbow directions reversed because bow was reversed). He’d play this way until the 7th measure came around again and switch back, using the pizzacato notes to switch bow directions. It was a neat parlor trick, and always a good laugh for the kiddies when playing for little children. He called it putting ‘hoy’ into the tune.

Thanks Dan, I love it…

There was also a couple dance that took the same name. I’m still waiting to see if any of the various lyrics that have been attached to this show up here in the comments.

“The origins of the rhyme are believed to date back to the 1700’s.”

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/a116a-pop-goes-the-weasel.htm

Pop goes the Weasel ~ different lyrics

Half a pound of tuppenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.

Up and down the City road,
In and out the Eagle,
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.

A penny for a spool of thread,
A penny for a needle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.

Every night when I go out
The monkey’s on the table
Take a stick and knock it off
Pop goes the weasel.

Round and round the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey stopped to pull up his socks
And Pop goes the weasel.

‘ve no time to plead and pine
I’ve no time to wheedle
Kiss me quick, and then I’m gone
Pop! Goes the weasel.

All around the cobbler’s Bench
The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey thought it all in fun,
Pop, goes the weasel.

You’ll find someone’s commentary on these at the end of the link given above…

There are a few that are familiar with me ~
1.) Half a pound of tuppenny rice ~
3.) A penny for a spool of thread, ~
5.) Round and round the mulberry bush ~ with differences, see below…
7.) All around the cobbler’s bench ~

All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel
The monkey thought ’twas all in good fun,
Pop! Goes the weasel.

There’s more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Goes_the_Weasel

I also remember a chorus, which for me, if memory serves me right, was #1: Half a pound of tuppenny rice ~ definitely finishing with “That’s the way the money goes, Pop! Goes the weasel.”

I think as children we danced some kind of circle dance to this…

Very minor variation, but

Half a pound of tuppenny rice
Half a pound of treacle
“Mix it up and make it nice”
Pop goes the weasel.

There’s a brilliant scene in The Godfather where mobster Frankie Pentangeli tries to get the band to play a tarantella, lilting the 6/8 rhythm, and the band gamely tries to follow, only to break into Pop! Goes the Weasel.

Also, I believe there was a track on the Session Mighty Crack project where Mr. Phantom Button held forth on this tune…

It’s on my hard drive somewhere… saving it for the proper moment…

“The Marine” (“The Braes of Argyll”) ~ played AB
https://thesession.org/tunes/3370

“Pop Goes the Weasel” ~ given here ~ played AB

“Off She Goes” (“Humpty Dumpty”) ~ played AB
https://thesession.org/tunes/1133

~ in any other combination…

fidkid ~ I’d love to hear that… 😉

Well, heres my two-pennies worth (so to speak … 😉 )

The “Eagle” referred to in the lyrics is a pub in Shepherdess Walk (just off the City Road!) in Shoreditch, East Central London, England:

(Arrowed on map in this link)

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/oldmap.srf?x=532465&y=182887&z=0&sv=N1+7LB&st=2&pc=N1+7LB&mapp=oldmap.srf&searchp=oldsearch.srf

The building still exists! Here’s a picture of it:

http://www.deadpubs.co.uk/LondonPubs/Shoreditch/EagleT9.jpg

I was always told that the quantities of rice, treacle etc mentioned in the lyrics referred to prices traded on the London commodity markets, and that the “Eagle” was the pub in which the City brokers clinched their deals.

“Pop” apparently means “pawn” - meaning that if your deals go wrong you may have to pawn your posessions.

But what about “weasel”?. One theory is that “weasel” is a corruption of “whistle”.

Not whistle in ITM terms though, but “whistle”“ as in “whistle and flute”

And for those unfamiliar with Cockney rhyming slang, “whistle and flute” (usually shortened to just “whistle”) means “suit”.

So maybe, “pawn your suit” when you lose your money …..

… but there’s lots of other theories …. 😉

Isn’t this a single jig?

The above post was just to maintain my reputation for stirring things up.

To quote the trucks from Thomas The Tank Engine:
Oliver’s no use at all
Thinks he’s very clever
Thinks that he’s the boss of us
That’s the best joke ever

@ Mix O´Lydian
On one of the links mentioned above, I remember reading that “Weasel and Stoat” was rhyming slang for coat.
So the story may be that if you spent too much time in The Eagle, you´d have to pop your whistle AND your weasel !

As kids at school, if somebody wanted to see something someone else had, the usual expression was “Gissa butcher´s!” We were blissfully unaware that we were using rhyming slang (Give us a look - butcher´s hook). The same went for “titfer” (tit for tat - hat) and “barnet” (Barnet Fair - hair)

@murfbox - Of course. weasel and stoat = coat! Don’t why I overlooked that one. Yes,“pawning your coat” seems a better interpretation.

In the cockney vernacular - I “Adam and Eve” it! … 😉

“Beauty An Oileáin: Music And Song Of The Blasket Islands”
by Various Artists

https://thesession.org/recordings/2664

X: 3
T: Pop Goes the Weasel
S: Seáinín Mhicil Ó Súilleabháin, fiddle
S: CD: “Beauty An Oileáin: Music And Song Of The Blasket Islands”
S: track 1, tune #3
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: single jig
K: GMaj
D |\
G2 B A2 c | BdB G2 D | G2 B A2 c | BcB G2 D |
G2 B A2 c | BdB G3 | e2 d A2 c | B3 G2 D |
G2 B A2 c | BdB G2 D | G2 B A2 c | B3 G2 D |
G2 B A2 c | BdB G3 | .e z2 A2 c | BcB G3 ||
g2 f e2 g | faf d3 | g2 f e2 g | fgf d3 |
c2 B c2 d | e2 f g3 | .e2 z A2 c | B3 G3 |
g2 f e2 g | faf d3 | g2 f e2 g | fgf d3 |
c2 B c2 d | e2 c g2 e | d2 B A2 c | BcB G2 |]

.e z2 was pizzicato…

Two more modern colloquialisms are a “John Selwyn” and a “J Arthur” (similar to a Barclay),
but I might be a Berk if I commented on their meaning.

p.s.
The Berkley, is actually pronounced Barclay.

I have this version from West Clare. Sometimes it is called ‘Humpty Dumpty’ and others refer to it as ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’. It is great fun to play. Hope you can follow my poor attempt at ABC notation!! Perhaps someone could fix it for me.

F2 A2 G2 B| ABC#d|AG
F2 A2 G2 B| AFD E2|D
F2 A2 G2 B| ABC#d| e
fed g2f | edc# d2 :| e

faf def | gbg efg |
faf def | eAA Ade|
faf def | gbg efg |
fed g2f | edC# d2

Nice one Clarewoman, but that’s “Off She Goes”, and as you’ve said, also known as “Humpty Dumpty”, words sung to the melody.

You’ve done a fair go at ABC, keep at it, it will become second nature, I’ve no doubt. It’s a useful tool. I’ve worked on your transcription and moved it to the comments for “Off She Goes”:

https://thesession.org/tunes/1133

From Tom Billy manuscript in Dan Herlihy’s 2003 book, page 70, tune 2. Being from Sliabh Luachra it is, of course, a slide. The turn is slightly different. Tom Billy’s ABC notation is not unambiguous in terms of note durations, especially if you are not familiar with the tune, and so you might be playing all the right notes but not necessarily at the right time (with apologies to EM). As it happens this was the first tune I ever tried to play, one Christmas many decades ago, on a toy xylophone!

Can someone transcribe this version for me?
😉

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj-dA2FHB0g

play video