The Weaver And His Wife jig

This one is also played in A Major, and here is a transcript of it that way and simplified and with other options ~

K: A Major
|: c |
E2 E EAB | c3 A3 | c3 A2 c | edc B3 |
E2 E EBc | d3 B3 | E2 e dcB | A3 A2 :|
|: c |
EAc e3 | EAe c3 | EAc edc | d3 B2 c |
ded B2 d | GBG F2 G | E2 e dcB | A3- A2 :|

Hey, there must be somebody out there who can weave us some tales about Mr. Rankine? Please?

another take in A ~

K: A Major
|: F |
E3 A2 B | c3 A2 B | cBc A2 c | edc B2 G |
EE/E/E EGB | d3 B2 G | E2 e dcB | A3 A2 :|
|: F |
EAc e2 c | EAB c2 A | EAc edc | d2 c dBc |
dfd B/c/dB | GBG E3 | E2 e dcB | A3- A2 :|

Come on Geoff, your turn next, or Dow or Nigel or Noel or ~???

Luv it!

Certainly in the same mold as “Hogmaney” &, I think, my “Searching for the Soap”. They are the sort of tunes that many of the ‘ENGLISH’ ceilidh bands get into. I have heard this before, forgotten about it but it has stayed in the old grey-matter, as many tunes do, without me realising it. Could “SFTS” also be associated wih Rankine, do you think?

You would have to remind me of my neglect… 😉

I’m trying to remember a name for that one, which might not even be there, but I could swear I had another name and way with it… Sometimes the answer pops into my thoughts a few days later when I’m not even thinking about the thing I need an answer for… I’ll play it into the comfort zone again this weekend and that may help. I’ve a couple of friends I might also pester over it… I don’t have any of my vinyl on hand but have a sneaking suspicion I’ve a recording of that on somewhere? 😏

K: A Major
|: AGF |
E2 E EAB | c3 A3 | c3 A2 c | edc B3 |
E2 E EBc | d3 B3 | E2 e dcB | ABA :|
|: A3 |
EAc e3 | EAe c3 | EAc edc | d3- dBc |
Ded BdB | G3 F3 | E2 e dcB | ABA :|

ceolachan, could you tell us where you got your version?

here it is…don’t quickstep on it!

(these tunes are absolutely unbearable, how could anyone!?…Is it just me? I believe they shouldn’t even be counted as jigs…) Sorry if I offend anyone, it’s from the heart.

Sorry I’m late on this one Nigel. I have a couple of recordings of Andrew Rankine, but I suspect I first heard this one being played for dance and dancers, both sides of that equation. As a single jig it is easily taken and played as a slide…

Nah, it fits better under “jigs” because it’s a jig.

Check the phrasing, if you really chop it up into 6/8 bars something is seriously wrong. The melody weaves itself into 2-bar phrases if taken as 6/8, which consequently flow as 12/8… But there’s nothing stopping anyone from writing it out in the old familiar boot of 6/8, which some folks still do with slides too…

If taken as 6/8, the primary pulse and drive of this tune is still 12/8, meaning that, if transcribed as 6/8, the odd measures ~ 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. ~ are given that bit more “OOMPH!” than the even measures that follow
~ | OOMPH-du-tuh Dah | Oomph-dit-tuh Dee | ~ =
~ | DGB d3 | DGd B3 | ~ =
~| DGB d3 DGd B3 | ~

It flows 12/8 if you play it like a slide, yes, but it’s not played as a slide, it’s played as a jig. You’ve even represented that Scottish style jig swing in your transcription with the arrow signs. Makes them sound just right - really bouncy, a bit like Willy Taylor’s fiddle style (I can just imagine how he would have played this!!). But slide, no!! 12/8, no!!

There are a lot of Scottish jigs the Irish have turned into 12/8 slides, like Cock Of The North into Chase Me Charlie, amongst others. Sometimes if the phrasing’s right it can be successful, but if you do smooth these out and play them as 12/8 tunes, you have to realise that what you’re doing is changing its form from the original bouncy, swingy, jig, rather than giving any kind of “correct” representation of the original.

reminiscent of: John D. Burgess
https://thesession.org/tunes/4648

Larry McKee and the Shandonairs, “Dance Time in Ireland”, ITB-4000, Boot Records

Kelli Trottier, “More From Glengarry”, WRC4-5679, World Records