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Tripping Up The Stairs jig

Also known as The Cocoon, Paddy O’Flaherty, Plains Of Kilkorkery, The Plains Of Kilkorkery, The Pride Of Kildare, Roscabury, Sacho’s, Sacko’s, Sackos, Sackow’s, Sackows, The Syracuse, Trippin’ Up The Stairs, Tripping Up Stairs.

There are 61 recordings of a tune by this name.

A tune by this name has been recorded together with Father O’Flynn (lots of times), My Darling Asleep (lots of times), The Trip To Athlone (a few times), Out On The Ocean (a few times) and The Tar Road To Sligo (a few times).

Tripping Up The Stairs has been added to 105 tune sets.

Tripping Up The Stairs has been added to 1,547 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Six settings

X: 1
T: Tripping Up The Stairs
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:FAA GBB|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
FAA GBB|FAd fed|c2c ABc|dfe d2A:|
dBB fBB|dBB fed|cAA eAA|efe edc|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cBc ABc|dfe d3:|
X: 2
T: Tripping Up The Stairs
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
FAA GBB|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
FAA GBB|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
FAA GBB|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
FAA GBB|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dec|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cAe cAc|efe edc|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cBc ABc|dfe dec|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cAA ecA|a2a ecB|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cBc ABc|dfe d3|
X: 3
T: Tripping Up The Stairs
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:FAF GBG|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
FAF GBG|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe d2A:|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cAA eAA|efe edc|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cBc ABc|dfe dag:|
dBB fBB|f/2g/2ag fed|cAA eAA|f/2g/2ag fec|
dBB fBB|f/2g/2ag fed|cBc ABc|dfe dag:|
X: 4
T: Tripping Up The Stairs
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:g|fAd cAd|BGd AAG|F.A.A def|g3 eag|
f2d cAd|BGd AAG|F.A.A def|gec d2e|
f2d cAA|BGG AAG|FAA def|g3 eag|
fdd cAd|BGd AAG|F2A def|gec d2A||
|:FAA BAA|FAD DAG|FAA def|g3 eag|
f2d cAd|BGd AAG|FAA def|gec d2A|
DAA BAG|FAD DAG|DAA def|g3 eag|
f2d cAd|BGd AAG|FAA def|gec d2||
# Added by JACKB .
X: 5
T: Tripping Up The Stairs
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:"D"FAA "G"GBB|"D"FAd fed|"A"cBc ABc|"D"dfe "G"dAG|
"D"FAA "G"GBB|"D"FAd fed|"A"c2c ABc|"D"dfe d2A:|
|:"Bm"dBB fBB|"Bm"dBB fed|"A"cAA eAA|"A"efe edc|
"Bm"dBB fBB|"Bm"fgf fed|"A"cBc ABc|"D"dfe d3:|
# Added by Bryce .
X: 6
T: Tripping Up The Stairs
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
A2G|:FAd GBd|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
|FAd GBd|FAd fed|cBc ABc|[1dfe d2A:|[2dfed3|]
|:dBB fBB|dBd fed|cAA eAA|efe ecA|
dBB fBB|dBd fed|cBc ABc|[1dfe d3]:|[2dfe d2A|]

Seventeen comments

This an almost universally popular jig that has stood the test of time.

There’s a lot of room for variation on the melody. I sometimes play the opening bar with the F and G notes long and the A and B notes short: F2A G2B instead of FAA GBB.

The change into B minor for the second part sounds great if you can turn those Bs into triplets.

Try varying the way you play the C note. It can be played as CBC or as one long C, perhaps rolled.

I find this tune sounds good after Donnybrook fair.

Someone has this listed as The Eavesdropper but that’s a different tune.

Doublin’

A few moments ago, someone posted this as its own tune, he claimed it was the version found on Glackin/Keenan’s Doublin’. I haven’t yet dug out my copy to check it, but since I thought it’d be quickly deleted I grabbed the ABC before it disappeared.

M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
FAA GBB|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
FAA GBB|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
FAA GBB|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
FAA GBB|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dec|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cAe cAc|efe edc|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cBc ABc|dfe dec|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cAA ecA|a2a ecB|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cBc ABc|dfe d3|

I play this one with the gravel walk and some other tunes on the GHB…but in the session band we have with some othe garry owen and some other tunes

Angularity

I play a more angular form on later repeats:

X: 1
T: Tripping Up The Stairs
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Dmaj
|:FAF GBG|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe dAG|
FAF GBG|FAd fed|cBc ABc|dfe d2A:|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cAA eAA|efe edc|
dBB fBB|fgf fed|cBc ABc|dfe dag:|

And sometimes toss in this on the "B" part:

dBB fBB|f/2g/2ag fed|cAA eAA|f/2g/2ag fec|
dBB fBB|f/2g/2ag fed|cBc ABc|dfe dag:|

I think I got that from "Gillian’s Apples" in O’Neil;s but put it in a different spot in the tune.

Flatening ?

I like hearing at the beginning of the B part a c natural like this :
|B=cB fBB| instead of |dBB fBB|
Of course , all the other c’s remain sharp.

Roscabury next part?

HI
The Irish Ceili band do this as Roscabury with another tune following it. I was able to find Tripping up the stairs on Norbeck’s site to lead me here, but I can’t place the following tune

GBG FAF E2B BAB
GBG FAF DFA AFD
GBG FAF E2B BAB
G2d dBG …. …….

those are f# but I’m not certain it is in G or D, sounds a little minor

you can hear it if you google Irish Ceili band and Roscabury and ..gulp .. wal-mart

thanks very much for any assistance on the name of the second tune

thanks for the ideas above for ornaments!!!!

Mick

That tune is "The Leitrim"

justjim’s version is the one we play at the pub.

Tripping Up The Stairs

A lovely version of this tune I got from Dicky Deegan, with some of my own variations.

Posted by .

4th setting is a different tune

ACKB: as Mikal said, that’s a different tune. Better to remove that setting here and add it over there, and then add "Tripping Up The Stairs" as an alternate name on "My Darling Asleep" (if that’s what you know it as).

Having the name of one well-known and much-recorded tune as an alternative name for another well-known and much-recorded tune wrecks the functionality of the links to recordings and the search function.

Tripping Up The Stairs another name?

Here in France it is also known as Jig de Tony Hall, named after the wonderful Norfolk box player and singer Tony Hall. He used to play it on an old Hohner and played while at St Chartier so I suppose that is why they named it after him.

Posted by .

Re: Tripping Up The Stairs

B is very similar to part A of the Swallowtail Jig