The Fairy

slip jig

Key signature: Adorian

Submitted on April 1st 2004 by amsrie.

This tune has been added to 68 tunebooks.

Also known as The Fairie's Taught Me This, The Fairies Delight, The Fairies Taught Me This, The Fairies' Delight, The Fairy's Delight, Frainc An Phoill, The Gift From The Fairies, Micky Docherty's.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• A Treasury Of Irish Music 2 by Various Artists
• Altan by Altan
• An Ph�b by Dicky Deegan
• An Tobar Gl�é by Neil Mulligan
• Around St. James' Well by Carmel Gunning
• Augusta: 20 Years Of Irish Music Recorded Live At The Augusta Heritage Center by Various Artists
• Beauty An Oileáin: Music And Song Of The Blasket Islands by Various Artists
• Eavesdropper by Kevin Burke And Jackie Daly
• First Hand by Mairi Rankin
• Heat Of The Moment by Pierre Schryer And Ian Clark
• In Full Spate by Paddy Glackin
• Irish Jigs by Paul Hutchinson, John Hymas And Tony Harris
• Irish Traditional Concertina Styles by Various Artists
• Portrait Of A Scottish Jew's Harp Player by Lindsay Porteous
• Pride Of The West by John Wynne And John McEvoy
• Providence III by Providence
• Return To Droim by Colm Gannon
• Shetland Fiddle Music by School Of Scottish Studies, University Of Edinburgh
• Standing Room Only by Eliot Grasso
• Strangest Dream by Popcorn Behavior
• Take To The Floor by Haste To The Wedding
• The Best Of Seamus Tansey by Seamus Tansey
• The Celebrated Recordings by John Doherty
• The Good Ear by Dougal Adams And Ormonde Waters
• The Gravel Walks: The Fiddle Music Of Mickey Doherty by Mickey Doherty
• The High Notes by The High Notes
• The Road Less Traveled by Danu
• The Silver Spire by Karen Tweed
• The Stone In The Field by Tommy Reck
• The Tap Session by Andrea Beaton
• Through The Round Window by Eamonn Coyne
• Traditional Irish Music by James Kelly
• We'll Seek No More Engagements by Aidan Crossey
• Wish You Were Here by Boys Of The Lough

X: 1
T: Fairy, The
M: 9/8
L: 1/8
R: slip jig
K: Ador
|:A2G Add Add|ABA AFA fAg|A2G Add ded|cAG AAG FDD:|
|:a2g fab afd|afd dfa baf|afa baf afd|cAG AAG FDD:|

Fairy jig

This is a great tune - courtesy of my Irish Ensemble teacher. I usually play this with Con Cassidy's jig preceding it. Have fun!

# Posted on April 1st 2004 by amsrie

I think what you're after here is a slip jig (in 9/8):
X: 1
T: Fairy Jig, The
M: 9/8
L: 1/8
K: D mixolydian
|: A2 G Add Add | ABA AFA fAg | A2 G Add Add | cAG cAG FED :||
|: ~a3 fab afd | ~a3 faa baf | ~a3 baf afd | cAG cAG FED :||

# Posted on April 1st 2004 by Will CPT

The sheet version is the one we hear played. There was a version that Mairead Mooney and Frankie Kennedy played that was all the rage at sessions in Carrick (Oct. bank holiday weekend) 20 years ago but it's not so easy to find someone who plays it this way now. This is a dredged up version because it's been so long but I think it's OK.

X: 1
T: Fairy Jig, The
M: 9/8
L: 1/8
K: D mixolydian
|: A2 G Add Add | A2G Add f3 | A2 G Add Add | cAG A2G FED :||
| a2f add add | a2f add baf | a2f add add | cAG A2G FED|
| a2f add add | a2f add baf | a3 bag a2g | fed cAG FED ||

Jim

# Posted on April 1st 2004 by skerries

Thanks!

Wow. I guess I was misinformed. But thanks for straightening it out. Interesting....

# Posted on April 2nd 2004 by amsrie

Misinformed? How so? Did your teacher write the tune out for you in 6/8, or simply call it a "jig?" Slip jigs are jigs, and some people drop the 'slip' part when talking about them, assuming the 9/8 meter is self-evident.

# Posted on April 2nd 2004 by Will CPT

Ok, maybe "misinformed" was the wrong word. Perhaps "misheard" is slightly better. Either way, I learned the tune by rote. Usually I'm good about catching on to the different meter of a slip jig. Oh well.

# Posted on April 3rd 2004 by amsrie

Misplaced?

It mentions this tune on the Danu album 'The Road Less Travelled'. On the Album the tune is called the Fairy Reel and is, of course, a reel and not a slip jig.

# Posted on October 25th 2006 by An Fìdhlear

Mickey Doherty

This slip jig was a tune Mickey Doherty, elder brother of Johnny Doherty, apparently learned from the Fairies. It’s still played in Donegal. A recording of this tune is to be found on “The Gravel Walks: The Fiddle Music of Mickey Doherty”. The tune is played somewhat furiously. And he repeated it so many times that the recording engineer apparently just switched off the machine before he was finished playing. Sadly this set of two tapes has not yet made its way to CD. Mickey Doherty’s style had a more swung rhythm than his younger brother John, and was apparently more like the playing of their father Michael, which is typical of the Rosses style. John Doherty’s playing was more clearly influenced by the records of James Scott Skinner, especially in his playing of reels.

# Posted on February 19th 2007 by neddiescotus

Another fan of this tune.

I like to play this tune at a moderate pace following The Rolling Waves, although some do roll their eyes at a slip jig following a jig. I first heard this tune played by the fiddler Sam Amidon on an album called Strangest Dream. The version is slightly different than this one; I came across the popcorn behavior version elsewhere online, too, so it must be a variation. I also was surprised to learn this tune was a slip jig, even though I had learned it by ear. I heard the first two notes as a separate, introductory measure and then the next group of six notes as the first measure of a 6/8 tune, although it did weird things rhythmically (of course since it really IS a slip jig), but I liked that.

# Posted on March 14th 2007 by tedsoulos