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Irish Washerwoman

Taught by Vi Wickam

April 3, 2018

Fiddle • Intermediate

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About Irish Washerwoman:

Irish Washerwoman according to Traditional Tune Archive

Although the tune has popularly been known as an old, and perhaps quintessential Irish jig, it has been proposed by some writers to have been an English country dance tune that was published in the 17th century and probably known in the late 16th century. Samuel Bayard (1981), for example, concludes it probably was English in origin rather than Irish, being derived from the air called “Dargason,” or “Sedany” as it is sometimes called. Fuld (1966) disagrees, believing “Dargason” (which he gives under the title “Scotch Bagpipe Melody”) and “The Irish Washerwoman” developed independently. “Dargason” was first printed in Ravenscroft’s Pammelia (1609) and appears in the Playford’s Dancing Master editions from 1651 to 1690, but subsequently the “folk process” melded the strain to other parts, thus making other tunes (see “Green Garters (3)” for example) including the precursors to the Washerwoman tune. One of these precursors was the English tune “Country Courtship (The),” which dates from at least 1715 and probably to 1688, in which latter mentioned year it was first entered at Stationers’ Hall. “The Irish Washerwoman” appears to have developed from “Country Courtship (The),” which was extremely popular in the 19th century, as the tune under the “Washerwoman” title was to become a little later. The ending of the jig is the same as the endings of “In Bartholemew Fair” and “Free Masons (1).” Breathnach (1976) finds the second part identical to that of “Star at Liwis or Scheme (The)” printed by London publisher J. Walsh in Caledonian Country Dances (c. 1730, p. 59). The melody was found by the author of English Folk-Song and Dance (p. 144) in the repertoire of fiddler William Tilbury (who lived at Pitch Place, midway between Churt and Thursley in Surrey), who used, in his younger days, to play at village dances. Tilbury learned his repertoire from an uncle, Fiddler Hammond, who died around 1870 and who was the village fiddler before him. The conclusion was that “Haste to the Wedding” and melodies of similar type survived in English tradition (at least in southwest Surrey) well into the second half of the 19th century. Multi-instrumentalist John Rook (Waverton, Cumbria), for example, entered it into his large 1840 music manuscript collection. The jig is played very fast as an accompaniment for Northumbrian rapper sword dancing.

Vi Wickam

Vi Wickam

Vi Wickam of Loveland, CO has been performing fiddle and writing music since before he could read. Along with his brothers and dad, The Wickam Family Band performed regularly on Blinky’s Fun Club, a nationally syndicated TV program. Vi’s fiddling can be heard on numerous CD recordings, including two of his own. He’s played with many different bands throughout the United States, and even briefly in England. Among his fiddling honors, Vi has won the Colorado State Championship twice, and been a finalist four times at the Grand Masters’ Fiddler Championship. He has judged fiddle contests throughout the US, and directed regional and state level fiddle contests. Read More About Vi→

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. nycviolin says

    June 22, 2021 at 6:52 am

    Hey Vi. I have a question about a bowing option on this tune. I first learned it with a down down up for each set of three notes until the B part. It was very comfortable to bow that way and I could do it quite fast too. I find it so much harder to do it fast without the slurs, but at the same time I know that is a true fiddle style. So, 1. Any tips for bowing fast in down up down up style and 2. Do you think the down down up down down up style I learned was a classical player just making this easier, or would a fiddler of any style bow this way?

    Thanks!

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    • Vi Wickam says

      June 28, 2021 at 3:30 pm

      Hey Antoinette! When I bow jigs, I generally do a combination of straight bowing, and slurring 3 per bow. I think that bowing the second half of Irish Washerwoman down-down-up would end up losing the flow of the dance. You should have a strong beat accent on the first note of each measure that would be the down bow, and a weaker accent on the up bow that would start the second half of each measure if you are looking at measure that are full of straight 8ths. I would look at the triple shuffle bowing exercise in the shuffle bowing series for help with speeding up the straight jig bowing.

      https://www.mytalentforge.com/lessons/shuffle-bowing-lesson-3-triple-shuffle/

      You might also find looking at the 3 different lessons that we have on Irish Washerwoman. 🙂 Let me know if this isn’t enough info. 🙂

      Thanks,
      Vi

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Series Lessons

Jigs

  • Atholl Highlanders
  • Haste to the Wedding
  • Higgedy Jig
  • Higgedy Jig Harmony
  • Irish Washerwoman
  • Irish Washerwoman
  • Pass the Grog
  • Swallowtail Jig
  • Swallowtail Jig
  • The Stool of Repentance

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