The Sport Of The Chase slip jig

I first heard this piece many years ago from a little tape I bought at a Tourist trap in Hot Springs Arkansas. The tape was, no doubt, made by some local musicians. The tempo was very slow and deliberate. The playing was nice and clean allthough not particularly inspired. I felt that this was a perfect tape for step dancing classes.

I grabbed a copy of it off the net years later because I thought it looked cool. Imagine that. Although it is a decent little piece to listen to I found that it has helped me. The second half of the B part has both excellent bowing practice for the violin and good flat picking practice for the mandolin.

This tune is also played a step down in G major. I prefer to make this a three part Jig by chopping the long B part in half.

This tune in a slightly more complex form, as a three part slip jig, has been played in Scotland for hundreds of years and is found in a number of old collections under the title of The New Claret, or New Claret

“The Sport of the Chase”

Hop Jigs ~ page 36

X: 2
T: Sport of the Chase, The
M: 9/8
L: 1/8
R: hop/slip jig
K: GMaj
|: G2 G B2 G BdB | G2 G B2 G BdB | C2 C E2 C EGE | D2 D F2 D FAF :|
G2 G g2 d BdB | G2 G g2 d BdB | c2 c e2 c ege | d2 d f2 d faf |
gdB gdB gdB | gdB gdB gdB | ece ece ece | fdf fdf gdB |]

X: 3
T: Sport of the Chase, The
M: 9/8
L: 1/8
R: hop/slip jig
K: GMaj
|: G2 G B2 G BdB | G2 G B2 G BdB | D2 D F2 D FAF | D2 D F2 D F/G/AF :|
G2 G g2 d BdB | G2 G g2 d B/c/dB | c2 c e2 c ege | d2 d f2 d f/g/af |
gdg gdg gdB | gdg gdg gdG | ece ece ecA | fdf fd/e/f fga |]

D major version

Sport of the Chase was played in a session I recently attended, as a two-parter. I quite liked it like that, though I knew several more parts (some boring, some interesting). I mentioned this and said I’d forward the version I knew - but why not put them all on The Session instead?

So here we are.

David

As played in Austin, TX. Learned this one from Nicolle Figueroa Gallaga, who I believe learned it in Limerick.

from Fairport Convention ..Flatback Capers

I understand that Dave Swarbrick learned quite a few tunes from John Doonan, and this one of them. This seven part version appears on his album ‘Flute for the Feis’, and if memory serves correctly the Fairport version is the same, note for note (I think X:5 above is nearer).