Hurry The Jug jig

This is really a set dance, but it makes a nice slow jig. when played with a lot of swing it sounds great. I don’t know why I don’t hear this one more often as a set dance, it’s got a nice melody.

D’you mean, as a set for a stepdancer, Brad? It might be because it’s sometimes used as the tune for Lannigan’s Ball, or it may be waiting to come back in fashion, as the sets go in and out as a trend. (It’s usually danced at 69 bpm or above for the official An Coimisiun minimum tempo.) Also, it’s a double jig, and most of the champions usually prefer to do hornpipes as they’re harder and will usually place over a double jig.

But perhaps you mean the group set dancing (as opposed to dancing a solo set)? You can find a set at http://www.setdanceteacher.co.uk/hurryjug.htm, which is a version of the set given to Timmy McCarthy by Maureen Murphy of Abbeyfeale, Co.Limerick, saying that it’s not really been danced much since the 20’s -- the page has a note at the bottom that Mr. McCarthy was still playing with the version in the 90’s and that others sometimes dance it with a gallop instead of Mr. McCarthy’s gliding walk.

Zina

To most musicians a “Set dance” is a tune for a solo stepdancer to showcase their steps, a couple other big set dances are “The Three Sea Capt’s” & “The Ace & Duece of Piping” these tunes occasionally come up at sessions as well. “Set-dancing” is the group dancing, which is less refined (than stepdancers) but more accessible to common folks.

True, but I’d no way of knowing whether you’re one of them, but I suppose I do now -- so consider me well chastised. *saccharine grin*

zls

As a matter of interest, set dances ( the step dancing variety) are so called because they had set steps to a given tune. You couldn’t just do your own thing. Quite often the second part of the tune has an unusual number of bars. e.g. “Jockey at the Fair” and “St. Patrick’s Day” have 14 bars in the B music as does “The Job of Journeywork”, whilst “The Three Sea Captains” has 10 bars.
Junior Crehan had a lovely setting of this tune. Where did you get your setting Brad?

Chris

Miles, I first heard this on an old Ceili band compilation CD I think it was the Tulla Ceili Band. Zina I’m not quite sure what you ment in your response; am I not a musician, a stepdancer or a set dancer? I was only trying to clarify the difference in terms between the dancer world & the musician/session world.

Having learned it by ear, & always playing it so slowly I thought it was waltz! But it is beautiful, esp. when you ascend to that high E… we often would slam into Drowsy Maggie on the tail end of this to shake up the waltzers.

K: E Dorian
|: D |
EFE G2 A | BGE FEF | DED F2 G | AdB AFD |
~E3 ~G2 A | BGE FGA | BdB AdF | EGF E2 :|
|: A |
AFA d2 d | cec d2 A | AFA d2 A | BAG FED |
E2 e e2 f | g2 e f2 d | B2 e e2 f | gfe fdB(or - dcB)
AF/G/A d2 d | c/d/ec d2 A | AFA d2 A | BAG FED |
EFE G2 A | BGE FGA | B/c/dB AdF | EGF E2 :|

Mostly the basics with a few variations, this is the way I learned this tune and have known it, with repeats.

As to the ‘countrydance’ “Hurry the Jug”, two distinct interpretations have existed. There is one where it follows the structure and phrase of the music as given here, either in the style of a a ‘ceili dance’ or a ‘countrydance’ (similar in style to the ‘sets’). There are also a few other looser structured takes courtesy of Timmy McCarthy and others in the style of the ‘sets of quadrilles’, or ‘sets’. Several people have managed to acquire a copy of the surviving notes via various sources in Limerick. Some lay heavy on the footwork under the influence of certain teachers and competition. For any take in line with the tune, any three-part jig could do…

http://www.soundlantern.com/UpdatedSoundPage.do?ToId=23189

X: 1
T: Hurry The Jug
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Edor
|:D | E3 G2A | BGE EGE | D3 F2G | AdB AFD |
E3 G2A | BGE FGA | BdB AdF |1 EGE E2 D :|2EGE E3||
|:e3 gfe|dcd fed|edB g3|afd def|
e3 gfe|dcd AFD|BdB AdF|EGE E3:||

X: 1
T: Hurry the Jug
C: Trad.
S: The Fiddler’s Tune-Book; Jigs & Quicksteps, Trips & Humours; p.18, No.71.
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
Q: 280
K: Emin
|: E || EGE G2A | BAG FGA | BAG GED | EGE GED |
EGE G2A | BAG FGA | BAG GED | EGE E2 :|
| E || AFA d2d | ded d2B | AFA d2B | BAG FED |
B2d e2g | fed e2d | B2d e2g | faf fed ||
|| faf efe | ded d2B | AFA d2B | BAG FED |
EGE G2A | BAG FGA | BAG GED | EGE E2 ||

Compare the 1st part here with Lanigan’s Ball’s https://thesession.org/tunes/264

I prefer Lanigan Ball’s but I like the cheery contrast offered by the 2nd part here

X: 2
T: Hurry The Jug
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig / country dance
K: Edor
|: D |\
EFE G2 A | BGE FEF | DED F2 G | AdB AFD |
~E3 ~G2 A | BGE FGA | BdB AdF | EGF E2 :|
|: A |\
AFA d2 d | cec d2 A | AFA d2 A | BAG FED |
E2 e e2 f | g2 e f2 d | B2 e e2 f | gfe fdB(or - dcB)
AF/G/A d2 d | c/d/ec d2 A | AFA d2 A | BAG FED |
EFE G2 A | BGE FGA | B/c/dB AdF | EGF E2 :|

My favorite version of this tune is by P.J. Crotty, Carol Cullinan, James Cullinan on their album: Happy to Meet. I think the way they one on the high on the A part makes a great transition to the B part.

* I meant to say how they end on the high e at the end of the A part*. I really wish there was an edit button for the comment sections here.

alway associated this nice set dance/jig with the playing of Bobby Casey… you can hear a lovely version in his album “casey in the cowhouse” or “maestro ” .

Source/book: “Traditional Dance Music of Britain and Ireland: Jigs & Quicksteps, Trips & Humours - 200 Traditional airs with chords”; page 18, tune #71
Compiled & edited by Peter Kennedy; Mally Productions, 1997
https://www.mallyproductions.com
https://www.mallyproductions.com/englishmusic
ISBN: 1-899512-49-7
ISBN: 978-1-899512-49-2
one of the volumes in Peter Kennedy’s “The Fiddler’s Tune-Book Series”…

Transcribed from the book and posted by m.r.kelahan - July 27th, 2009

I had been in contact with Peter Kennedy and had been urging him to organize any notes regarding sources for the tunes in his collections, including his recordings, and offering my time to help with this. Some transcriptions are questionable, like this one which doesn’t make melodic/structural sense, is half baked and doesn’t jibe with any of his recordings that we have, or any of the printed or recorded versions we have or know of… X: 7 is my attempt to make sense of Kennedy’s version. The 9th measure/bar of the B-part can also be the usual - - - | AFA d2 d | - - -

This is Peter Carberry’s setting on his album “Traditional Music From Co. Longford”. Strangely, it’s two measures shorter than in the other versions… But I find it beautiful.