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Buttermilk Mary jig

Also known as Butter-milk Mary, Butter-milk Mary’s, Buttermilk Mary’s, Coleman’s, Hughie´s Buttermilk Mary, Hughie’s Buttermilk Mary, Maire Na Blaitce, Port Coleman.

There are 34 recordings of this tune.

This tune has been recorded together with

Buttermilk Mary appears in 4 other tune collections.

Buttermilk Mary has been added to 60 tunebooks.

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Four settings

1
X: 1
T: Buttermilk Mary
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
BGE EDB,|DGB dBG|c2e dBG|FA^G ABc|
Bd^c def|gfe edc|(3Bcd B cAd|BGF G2B:|
dgf gfe|dBG GBd|ea^g a2g|(3fga f def|
gbg faf|ege def|gdB AGA|BGF G3:|
2
X: 2
T: Buttermilk Mary
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
c>AE FEC|E>Ac ecA|d>ef edc|c>BB Bed|
c>ea ecA|d>fa ecA|e>dc efg|a>ec A:|
e>aa agf|ecA Ace|f>bb b2a|g>ee efg|
a>ba gag|fgf ecA|d>ef edc|BFG A:|
(cA)F FEC|EAc ecA|def edc|cBB B(ed)|
cea ecA|def edc|edc efg|aec A2:|
eaa agf|ecA Ace|fbb b2 a|gee efg|
aba gag|fgf edc|def edc|BFG A2:|
3
X: 3
T: Buttermilk Mary
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
cAE FEC|EAc ecA|def edc|cBB Bed|
cea ecA|daf ecA|dfd ced|cAA A2:|
eaa agf|ecA Ace|fbb b2 a|gee efg|
aba gag|fgf efg|aec Bed|cAA A2:|
4
X: 4
T: Buttermilk Mary
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
cAE FEC|E>Ac e2 A|d2 f ecA|B/c/dc B2 e/d/|
cea ecA|dfa e2 A|a>ec B^AB|cAG A2:|
eaa agf|e>cA A2 e|fbb b2 a|g/a/bg e2 f/g/|
aba gag|f/g/af e2 A|a>ec B^AB|cAG A2:|

Six comments

This is the tune on the Moving Cloud CD. My version I learned from Sean Ryan.

"Buttermilk Mary" ~ A Major

I was pleasantly surprised this wasn’t already here, but now it is. My experience with it is mostly in the key of A. I don’t have my Cole’s or Ryan’s on hand to check the notation but found a couple of ‘different’ ABC transcriptions supposed to be taken from Cole’s and thought I’d offer them here for comparison…

B: Cole’s 1000 Fiddle Tunes, 1940; pg. 64
B: Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg. 95

X: 2
T: Buttermilk Mary
Z: John Chambers <~trillian.mit.edu>
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: A Major
|: AB |\
c>AE FEC | E>Ac ecA | d>ef edc | c>BB Bed |
c>ea ecA | d>fa ecA | e>dc efg | a>ec A :|
|: cd |\
e>aa agf | ecA Ace | f>bb b2a | g>ee efg |
a>ba gag | fgf ecA | d>ef edc | BFG A :|

X: 3
T: Butter-milk Mary’s
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: A Major
|: (uA/B/) |\
(cA)F FEC | EAc ecA | def edc | cBB B(ed) |
cea ecA | def edc | edc efg | aec A2 :|
|: (uc/d/) |\
eaa agf | ecA Ace | fbb b2 a | gee efg |
aba gag | fgf edc | def edc | BFG A2 :|

"Buttermilk Mary" ~ G Major options to start

~ | BGF G :| ~ |: GA | BGE EDB, | ~

~ | BGF G2 :| ~ |: G/A/ | BGD EDB, | ~

And the final G of the B-part can be tied…
~ | BGF G2- :| ~ or ~ | BGF G- :|

The equivalent options also exist in A Major…

"Buttermilk Mary" ~ A Major ~ Captain Francis O’Neill’s collecting

B: "O’Neill’s Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies", 1903; page 187, tune No. 1002,
B: "O’Neill’s Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems", 1907; page 50, tune No. 217

X: 4
T: Buttermilk Mary
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: A Major
|: A/B/ |\
cAE FEC | EAc ecA | def edc | cBB Bed |
cea ecA | daf ecA | dfd ced | cAA A2 :|
|: c/d/ |\
eaa agf | ecA Ace | fbb b2 a | gee efg |
aba gag | fgf efg | aec Bed | cAA A2 :|

& ~ |: A/B/ | cAF FEC | ~

"Buttermilk Mary" ~ A Major and a bit more fun

It has been a long time since I played this ol’ number, but here goes another take and some other possibilities… 😏

X: 5
T: Buttermilk Mary
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: A Major
|: e/d/ |\
cAE FEC | E>Ac e2 A | d2 f ecA | B/c/dc B2 e/d/ |
cea ecA | dfa e2 A | a>ec B^AB | cAG A2 :|
|: c |\
eaa agf | e>cA A2 e | fbb b2 a | g/a/bg e2 f/g/ |
aba gag | f/g/af e2 A | a>ec B^AB | cAG A2 :|