Annotation:Mug of Brown Ale (2) (The)

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MUG OF BROWN ALE [2]. AKA and see "John Naughton's Jig," "Jug of Brown Ale (1) (The)," "Old Man Dillon," "One Bottle More (2)," "Stonecutter's Jig (The)." Irish, Jig. A Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB' (Kennedy): AA'BB' (Harker). The tune is sometimes credited to County Antrim piper Robert Thompson (as, for example, his granddaughter, Margaret Barry, asserts). R.M. Levey's first collection (London, 1858) appears to be the earliest printing of the tune (thus also the claim of "Mug of Brown Ale" for the original title). The melody was printed by Francis O'Neill as "Old Man Dillon" and in the Ryan/Cole volumes as "One Bottle More (2)." Levey notes:

This is the only Tune I have at all interfered with: I had it played by three different Fiddlers, and they all persisted in ending in the Major Key, viz: making the C in the last bar Sharp. They were unanimous in upholding the version, and when I played it as it is now set, ending Minor, they were very much shocked, and I confess I make the change unwillingly, but at the suggestion of friends to whom I "could not choose" but submit.

Compare also to the Scotch jig "O As I Was Kiss'd Yestreen (1)," published by James Oswald in his Caledonian Pocket Companion (1760).

Source for notated version: New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker].

Printed sources: Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 247, p. 76. Levey (First Collection of the Dance Music of Ireland), 1858; No. 45. Kennedy (Jigs & Quicksteps, Trips & Humours), 1997; No. 126, p. 31.

Recorded sources: Clannad - "Dúlamán" (1976. Appears as "The Jug of Brown Ale). Smithsonian Folkways (06819, cassette), Michael Gorman & Willie Clancy - "Irish Jigs, Reels and Hornpipes" (originally released in 1956).

See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [3]




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