Annotation:Saddle the Pony (1)
X:1 T:Saddle the Pony [1] M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig B:Jerry O'Brien's Accordion Instructor (Boston, 1949) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G D|GBA G2B|def gdB|GBA G2B|AFD AFD| GBA G2B|def gfg|edB dBA|BGG G2:| |:B/d/|efe edB|def gfg|efe edB|dAA ABd| efe edB|def gfg|edB dBA|BGG G2:|]
SADDLE THE PONY [1]. AKA and see “Priest's Leap (2) (The),” "Red Stockings (1)," “Rough Diamond.” Irish, New England; Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (most versions): AA’BB’ (Harker/Rafferty). "Saddle the Pony [1]" is often one of the first Irish jigs a young musician is taught in some areas, although in other regions the tune is not that well known. It breached the genre barrier and was frequently played by New England contra-dance bands for a time, perhaps due to the influence of Boston-based Irish-American accordion masters Jerry O'Brien and Joe Derrane. It should be noted that the tune appears in William Bradbury Ryan's Ryan's Mammoth Collection (published in Boston in 1883) under the title "Rough Diamond", so the jigs presence in New England predates all Irish publications. Despite this, the melody would seem to have an Irish provenance. Martin Mulvihill gives that this tune as a favorite vehicle for the dance The Haymakers' Jig in New York in the mid-20th century.
The first strain of "Saddle the Pony [1]" is shared with the jigs "Down with the Tithes (2)" and "Widow Well Married (The)." See also the related “Boy from Home.”
