The Hag At The Churn

jig

Key signature: Dmixolydian

Submitted on July 7th 2002 by Jeremy.

This tune has been added to 268 tunebooks.

Also known as The Bothy Band, Hag At The Church Door, Hag At The Churn, Single.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• Afterhours by The Bothy Band
• Battle Songs Of The Toucan Pirates by Toucan Pirates
• Bothar Gan Briseadh/Down The Line by Calua
• Cavan's Lilter by Séamus Fay
• Harmonic Motion by Slide
• In Your Ear by Seamus Egan
• Irlande by Frankie Gavin, Arty Mc Glynn And Aidan Coffey
• Millvalley by DeReelium
• Moidart To Mabou by Daimh
• Molly's Revenge Four by Molly's Revenge
• On Fire! by The Cottars
• Osna by Osna
• Out Of The Wind Into The Sun by The Bothy Band
• Part II: Fire In Our Hearts by Na Connerys
• Pipes, Rods 'n' Reels by Ray Sloan
• Standing Room Only by Eliot Grasso
• The Dusty Miller by Conor, Gay And Seán McKeon
• The Irish Experience by The Irish Experience
• The Islay Ball by Gary West
• The Leg Of The Duck by Joe Burke, Michael Cooney And Noreen Donoghue
• The Long Grazing Acre by Paddy Keenan And Tommy O'Sullivan
• The Rare Stuff by The Rare Stuff
• Throw Away The Keys by Brian Mac Aodha
• Travel 'n Style by Martin Nolan
• Year Of The Dog by Culann's Hounds

X: 1
T: Hag At The Churn, The
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Dmix
|:A2G ADD|A2G Adc|A2G ADD|EFG EFG:|
|AdB c3|Add efg|AdB c2A|GEG AED|
AdB c3|Add efg|age dcA|GEG AED||

Hag At The Churn

Most people will know this one from the version by The Bothy Band.

They put it together with The Pipe On The Hob, another great tune in my opinion.

I find this tune has a great "circular" quality to it. It's fun to play it over and over. It kind of builds up each time.

I've always played this one as the last tune in a set. I could never think of anything to follow it. Any ideas?

# Posted on July 7th 2002 by Jeremy

Hag at the churn

How about following it with Jim Ward's Jig---it's a nice key change, and another very catchy, simple jig (that Paddy Keenan's pretty fond of playing as well!)!

# Posted on July 7th 2002 by aoife

Hag at the Churn

You can't follow THIS tune with anything. It is a great circular tune and one that just grows and grows.

I play the Geese in the Bog before it. Seems to suit my style

# Posted on January 13th 2003 by Susie-Lee

"The Macbeth Set" = "The Three Old Hags" - Duh Mix?

"Hag at the Churn" / "The Hag's Purse" / "The Old Hag in the Kiln"
I was dropped as a child ~

# Posted on November 27th 2005 by ceolachan

Raise you.......

I used to play "Hag's Purse / Hag At The Spinning Wheel / Hag With The Money / Hag At The Churn".

# Posted on November 28th 2005 by Kenny

Guitar chords

Has anyone worked out a good sequence for the jig The Hag at the Churn as played by Paddy Keenan? Thanks

# Posted on February 2nd 2007 by molaoch

Recording

I have a recording of who the artists I'm not sure of their names, but they play The Irish Washerwoman, Old Hag At The Churn, Humours of Whiskey, then pause for a brief moment and go into Elizabeth Kelly's Delight. Although the last two are slip jigs to my knowledge, it sounded alright. I don't think they were the Chieftains either.

# Posted on June 30th 2007 by tin_whistler

This is a simply gorgeous tune.

Was lucky enough to hear this tune played a by a guy on Uilleann Pipes at a session.

# Posted on June 21st 2008 by D.J.F.

Here is an interesting quote from the Fiddler's Companion:

"Caoimhin Mac Aoidh says a correct translation of the Irish title would be “Hag in the churn.” This refers, he maintains, to the folk superstition that witches would inhabit a churn to steal butter. They could not abide this particular tune, however, so it would be played as a ward when the chore of churning butter was done. It was a terrible and telling mark if a woman left the house during this ritual."

# Posted on June 25th 2008 by BanjoBasher

I have just noticed that most of the other 'hag' tunes are in D mixolydian. Perhaps witches can't stand tunes in that key.

# Posted on June 25th 2008 by BanjoBasher