Jiggery Pokerwork jig

By John Spiers

Also known as The Jiggery Pokerwork, Jiggery Pokery.

There are 3 recordings of this tune.

Jiggery Pokerwork has been added to 16 tune sets.

Jiggery Pokerwork has been added to 132 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Six settings

1
X: 1
T: Jiggery Pokerwork
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Emin
E2F GFE|B2c A3|A2B G2B|BAG FGF|
E2F GFE|B2c A3|A2B G2B|BAF E3:|
|:B^AB GEB|^ABG EBA|BGE cGE|dAF gdB|
B^AB GEB|^ABG EBA|=A3 d3|BAF E3:|
2
X: 2
T: Jiggery Pokerwork
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Emin
|:E2 F GFE|B2 c A3|A2 B G2 B|BAG ~F3|
E2 F GFE|B2 c A3|A2 B G2 B|BAF E3:|
|:B_B=B GEB|_B=BG EB_B|BGE cGE|dAF ~g3|
B_B=B GEB|_B=BG EB_B|A3 dcd|BAF E3:|
3
X: 3
T: Jiggery Pokerwork
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Dmin
|:"Dm"D2E FED|A2B "Gm"G3|"C"G2A "F"F2A|"A"AGF "Em"E2F|
"Dm"D2E FED|A2B "Gm"G3|"C"G2A "F"F2A|"A"AGE "Dm"D3:|
|:"Dm"A_A=A FD=A|"C"_A=AF D=A_A|"B"AFD "Gm"BFD|"C"cGE "F"f2c|
"Dm"A_A=A FD=A|"C"_A=AF D=A_A|"Gm"G3 "C"c3|"A"AGE "Dm"D3:|
4
X: 4
T: Jiggery Pokerwork
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmin
|:G2 A BAG|d2 e c3|c2 d B2 d|dcB A3|
G2 A BAG|d2 e c3|c2 d B2 d|dcA G3:|
|:d^cd BGd|^cdB Gd^c|dBG eBG|fcA|bfd|
d^cd BGd|^cdB Gd^c|=c2 c f2 f|dcA G3:|
5
X: 5
T: Jiggery Pokerwork
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Bmin
|:B2c dcB|f2g e3|e2f d2f|fed cdc|
B2c dcB|f2g e3|e2f d2f|fec B3:|
|:f^ef dBf|^efd Bfe|f>dB g>dB|a>e.c b>^ab|
f^ef dBf|^efd Bfe|~=e3 ~a3|fec B3:|
6
X: 6
T: Jiggery Pokerwork
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Emin
|:"Em"E2F GFE|"G"B2c A3|"Am"A2B G2B|"C"BAG "D"FGF|
"Em"E2F GFE|"G"B2c A3|"Am"A3 d3|"D"BAF E3:|
|:"Em"B^AB GEB|^ABG EBA|BGE "C"cGE|"D"dAF "G"gdB|
"Em"B^AB GEB|^ABG EBB|"D"=A3 d3|BAF E3:|

Thirteen comments

Jiggery Pokerwork

This is a lovely jig written by the English melodeon player John Spiers. It was written as a tribute to the melodeon he started on, and recorded on his album with Jon Boden, ‘Bellow’.

Phrasing

Nice tricksy little tune!

I’ve not heard a recording. Can somebody who has tell me whether the B music is really 2 x (| 5/8 | 7/8 | 6/8 | 6/8 |), rather than 8 x | 6/8 | as written?

(Doesn’t make much difference to a solo perf, I guess, but once somebody is playing chords it does.)

µ

Phrasing

µ - I’d go with keeping the 6/8 all the way through the B part in written form, although John Spiers does accent the last last beat of the first bar as you may have guessed.

BTW the ABC is correct (or at least what I make it vs. the recording on the Bellow CD) but the sheet music attached here seems to be a bit different in the B section for some reason…

Also to add some confusion, John Spiers seems not to be that consistent where A sharps and flats appear through the playing of the B part, so it’s probably open to interpretation (or if you’re playing fiddle, how faffed you are in cooking up that number of B-A#-B progressions…)

- Cap’n.

Tune to go with Jiggery Pokerwork

This great tune, Danbury Hill (Trad) in Em…..

T: Danbury Hill
C: Trad
M:6/8
P:A
“B7”GF|“Em”EGB “Am”c2B|“D7”AFD “G”B2A|“C”GFG “Am”AGF|“Em”EFE “B7”^D^CB,|
“Em”EGB “Am”c2B|“D7”AFD “G”B2A|“C”GFG “B7”AGF|[1“Em”E3 -E:|[2 “Em” E3 -E2
P:B
|:e-|“Em”eE_e EdE|_dEc B3|“B7”BcB A2F|BcB A2F|
“Em”eE_e EdE|_dEc B3|“B7”BcB AGF|“Em”E3 -E2:|

Re: Jiggery Pokerwork

A# is the same as Bb (B flat).
If the notation is X = a closed hole, O = an open hole, and – = a half hole, then the two ways of playing A# and Bb on a whistle are:
X–O OOO
or
XOX XXX

Probably better to post this kind of question in discussion: you get a faster response and the information is there for everyone who needs it. That’s how I found out about the cross-fingered A#!
: )

Re: Jiggery Pokerwork

Much gloomy-er in Dmin, unless played at a quicker tempo.

Re: Jiggery Pokerwork

Re @Markplucker 12 years ago, I can confirm that Spiers’ tunebook notates the entire B part in 6/8.