Annotation:Pretty Girl Milkin’ her Cow (3)
X:1 T:Pretty Girl Milkin’ her Cow [3] R:Straight Jig M:2/4 L:1/8 N:A version of the slow air "Pretty Girl Milking her Cow [2]," usually N:set in triple meter. B:Harding’s Original Collection (1897, No. 119, p. 39) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Amin A/B/|ce/c/ Bd/B/|A/G/E2 A/B/|c/c/e/c/ Bd/B/|AEA A/B/| ce/c/ Bd/B/ A/G/E2 e/d/|c/B/A/G/ E/AB/|AcA:| |:G|c/d/e/f/ ge/c/|B/A/G2 G|c/d/e/f/ ge/g/|a3 a| gf/e/ de/c/ B/A/G2 A/B/|c/e/c/A/ E/AB/|AEA:|
PRETTY GIRL MILKIN' HER COW [3]. American, Straight Jig (2/4 time). A Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Pretty Girl Milkin' Her Cow [3]" is an American duple-time dance adaptation of the Irish triple-time slow air "Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow (2)." The American tune was probably fashioned for performance or the stage, using an Irish air familiar to a large Irish-American diaspora and shoehorning the melody into the then popular 'straight jig' form. A 'straight jig' was a duple time tune meant to accompany a solo dance, incorporating elements of flat-footing, buck and wing and soft-shoe dance. Some straight jigs sound quite like reels--others are more akin to a schottische.
