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Old Man Dillon jig

Also known as Gus Tierney’s, John Naughton’s, The Jug Of Brown Ale, Mug Of Brown Ale, The Mug Of Brown Ale, Old Man Dillon’s, Old Man Dylan.

There are 72 recordings of a tune by this name.

A tune by this name has been recorded together with The Rose In The Heather (lots of times), The Battering Ram (a few times), The Black Rogue (a few times), The Connaughtman’s Rambles (a few times) and Health To The Ladies (a few times).

Old Man Dillon has been added to 19 tune sets.

Old Man Dillon has been added to 213 tunebooks.

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Five settings

X: 1
T: Old Man Dillon
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Amin
|:(A/G/)|E>AA ABd|edB {d}c2 A|BGG DGG|Bdc BAG|
E>AA ABd|ede a2 g|edc Bcd|ecA A2:|
|:g|gef g2 a|gef g2 d|B>GG D>GG|Bdc BAG|
[1 gef g2 a|gef g2 d|e>dc Bcd|e>cA A2:|
[2 E>AA ABd|ede a2 e|edc Bcd|ecA A2|]
X: 2
T: Old Man Dillon
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
EAA ABd|edB c2A|BGG dGG|Bdc BAG|
EAA ABd|ede a2g|edc Bcd|1 ecA A2G:|2 ecA A2a||
|:gef g2a|gef gdc|BGG dGG|Bdc BAG|
[1 gef g2a|gef gdg|edc Bcd|ecA A2f:|
[2 EAA ABd|ede a2g|edc Bcd|ecA ABG||
X: 3
T: Old Man Dillon
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
EAA ABd|edB c2 A|BGG DGG|~B3 BAG|
EAA ABd|edB gfg|edc Bcd|1 eAA A2 G:|2 eAA A2 f||
gef g2 a|gef gdc|BGG DGG|~B3 BAG|
gef g2 a|gef gfg|edc Bcd|eAA A2 f|
gef g2 a|gef gdc|BGG DGG|~B3 BAG|
EAA ABd|edB gfg|edc Bcd|eAA A2 G||
# Added .
X: 4
T: Old Man Dillon
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
EAA ABd | edB c2 A | BGG DGG | Bdc BAG |
EAA ABd | ede a2 e | edc Bcd | ecA A2 :|
gef g2 a | gef g2 d | BGG DGG | B/c/dc BAG |
[1 gef g2 a | gef g2 d | edc Bcd | ecA A2 :|
[2 EAA ABd | ede a2 e | edc Bcd | ecA A2 |]
X: 5
T: Old Man Dillon
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Ador
EAA ABd|ege dBA|BGG GBA|GBA GED|
EAA ABd|e2d eag|edc Bcd|1 e^cA A2G:|2e^cA A2a||
|:gef g2a|gef gdc|BGG DGG|Bdc BAG|
|1 gef g2a|gef ged|^cAA AB^c|dfe d2g:|
|2 EAA ABd|~e2d eag|edc Bcd|e^cA A2G||

Eleven comments

This is a great Jig. I first heard it on Trouble in The Kitchen’s cd "Down the broom". I then took it to a local session telling everyone i’d found this great tune only to find out they’d been playing it for ages. Ooops….I think they thought i should have noticed :)
Lovely tune all the same.

Old Man Dillon

The mode is Ador.

X: 1
T: Old Man Dillon
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
S: Terry Bingham: Traditional Irish Music From Doolin Co. Clare
K: Ador
EAA ABd|edB c2A|BGG dGG|Bdc BAG|
EAA ABd|ede a2g|edc Bcd|1 ecA A2G:|2 ecA A2a||
|:gef g2a|gef gdc|BGG dGG|Bdc BAG|
1 gef g2a|gef gdg|edc Bcd|ecA A2f:|
2 EAA ABd|ede a2g|edc Bcd|ecA ABG||

This is one of the first jigs I ever learned. Can’t recall the source, but it was referred to as Mug of Brown Ale. With some differences from the above versions:

T: Mug of Brown Ale
T: Old Man Dillon
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: A dor
EAA ABd|edB c2 A|BGG DGG|~B3 BAG|
EAA ABd|edB gfg|edc Bcd|1 eAA A2 G:|2 eAA A2 f||
gef g2 a|gef gdc|BGG DGG|~B3 BAG|
gef g2 a|gef gfg|edc Bcd|eAA A2 f|
gef g2 a|gef gdc|BGG DGG|~B3 BAG|
EAA ABd|edB gfg|edc Bcd|eAA A2 G||

Posted .

Old Man Dillon/Mug of Brown Ale

Old Man Dillon (not Dylan) was the name of O’Neill’s source; Mug of Brown Ale is the name used by Kerr (but under Irish JIgs, though in those days that was as a much a typological term as an attribution of origin).

Old Mandolin

Well I’ll be… I always thought this tune’s namesake was an antique musical instrument.

“The Mug of Brown Ale” ~ courtesy of Michael Dunn, Irish fiddler, Lancashire

X: 4
T: The Mug of Brown Ale
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: G Major
|: G |\
EAA ABd | edB c2 A | BGG DGG | Bdc BAG |
EAA ABd | ede a2 e | edc Bcd | ecA A2 :|
|: e/f/ |\
gef g2 a | gef g2 d | BGG DGG | B/c/dc BAG |
[1 gef g2 a | gef g2 d | edc Bcd | ecA A2 :|
[2 EAA ABd | ede a2 e | edc Bcd | ecA A2 |]

Michael Dunn is likely the current longest serving and oldest Irish fiddler in Lancashire, a great character and good craic…

Old Man Dillon /Foga Bella

T Foga Bella
R Jig
L 1/8
K A Dorian

G| E<AA A2 B| c<Bc e<dc | B<GG d<GG| B/c/ dc B<AG|
E<AA A2 B| c<de a<gf| e<dc B<cd|1 e<^de A2 G :|| 2 e<^dc A2 a||
g<ef g2 a| g<e f g3| G<AG B<AG| B/c/ dc B<AG|
E<AA A2 B| c<de a<gf| e<dc B<cd|1 e<^de A2 G :|| 2 e<^dc A2||

I know this tune as Foga Bella (see Dixon’s “The Boys Like Beer”)
attributing this to James Hill, as does Tommy Armstrong’s manuscript. This is attribution is now thought to be doubtful!
This is how I play it…Stewart Hardy plays it in a minor mode of B. I just love it.

Error above

The comment re Ruadhraí O’Kane and co playing this tune is incorrect, and the tune Herman’s Hostel is on fact not in the data base and was written by Ruadhraí O’Kane.