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Swallowtail Jig

Taught by Vi Wickam

May 9, 2017

Fiddle • Intermediate

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About Swallowtail Jig:

Swallowtail Jig according to Tradition Tune Archive

A once-popular tune in Ireland, Britain and North America, useful for beginners although often considered too hackneyed for session play. The provenance is unknown, but generally credited as Irish. The “Swallowtail” title (in conjunction with the alternate title in O’Neill’s, “The Dancing Master”) may possibly refer to the type of coat with tails typically worn by early 19th century dancing masters. Bayard (1981) identifies the melody as another member of his “protean” “Welcome Home” tune family. Ken Perlman (1979) dates “Swallowtail Jig” to the mid-nineteenth century (perhaps on the strength of its appearance in Ryan’s Mammoth and Kerr’s Merry Melodies collections, published in the 1880’s), and says it is often used as the vehicle for Northumbrian sword dancing (for five dancers with two handled swords). See also O’Neill’s related tune “Dromey’s Fancy.” French-Canadian fiddler Joseph Allard (1873-1947) recorded the tune as “Gigue de Barnabé” in 1931 in the key of A minor, perhaps in honor of Barnabé Morin, one of his neighbors in Ville St-Pierre, Quebec[1].

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→

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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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