Redican’s Mother

Slip Jig, D, traditional Irish
Also known as: Fisherman’s Jig; Fisherman’s Lilt; Ryan’s Slip Jig; Dennis Ryan’s Slip Jig; The Blackhaired Lass

This traditional Irish slip jig is brief but charming. It has acquired far too many names over its life, but “Redican’s Mother” is the most distinct of them. That is, it is the one that is least likely to be confused with another tune’s similar name.

Recordings

• Video – Pride of New York: Redican’s Mother / The Bridal / The Humours of Whiskey (Slip Jigs) – from the album Pride of New York (Joannie Madden; Billy McComiskey; Brian Conway; Brendan Dolan).
• Audio – Comhaltas: Ryan’s Slip Jig (The Blackhaired Lass) – session recording from the album Foinn Seisiún 2
• Video – Rose Clancy: The Little Fair Cannavans / Ryan’s / Moll Roe (Slipjigs) – from the album Fiddle – Piano – Bass, by Rose Clancy with Brendan Dolan. (Ryan’s begins at time 1:12 in this recording.)

Sheet Music

As always for traditional tunes, the musical notation and chords do not indicate the “right” way to play the tune, but are a useful reference.

Ending the Tune – How you end the tune is a matter of preference: if you are playing this tune by itself or at the end of a set of tunes, you might leave it pleasantly unresolved with a sustained B note, or you might resolve it to D. Both of those options are shown in the final line of the sheet music below.

Whistle players will notice that there is one note in the tune, a B in the fourth measure, that is out of range for a D tin whistle. You can solve that by playing B an octave higher.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Redican’s Slip Jig Set: Redican’s Mother (D) / Hardiman the Fiddler (D Mixolydian)
• The Butterfly / Redican’s Mother / Fig for Kiss
• Redican’s Mother / The Bridal / The Humours of Whiskey
• Little Fair Cannavans / Redican’s Mother / Moll Roe

References and Resources

For those who want to dig deeper, here are some other resources.

• More Recordings
  • Video – Pluckingstrings: Fisherman’s Lilt – Mandolin – played slowly on solo mandolin
  • Video – Jon Antonsson: Fisherman’s Lilt – Slipjig D (Slow Learning Tempo) – played slowly and then fast on flute
• Books
  • Book & Audio – Matt & Shannon Heaton: In Harmony
  • Book – Foinn Seisiún, Volume 2 — Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Book – James Finnegan: The Banjo Buddy Tune Book – 365 Traditional Irish Tunes
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Aidan Crossey (The Irish Mandolin): Fisherman’s Lilt – a slip jig in D Major tabbed for mandolin – played on solo mandolin, with on-screen tablature
  • Lesson – Stephen Ducke (tradschool): Ryan’s Slip Jig – Part 1 of 2 – Tin Whistle Lesson, also Part 2 of 2 – video demonstration of playing the tune fast and slow on tin whistle
  • Lesson – James Finnegan (TheBanjoBuddy): Learn Ryan’s Slip Jig – Trad Tutorial – video lesson for tenor banjo, with on-screen sheet music and tablature. Sheet music available in The Banjo Buddy Tune Book.
  • Lesson – Patsy O’Brien (OnlineLessonVideos): Irish Guitar Lessons – Slip Jigs – Ryan’s Slip Jig – partial video lesson. (Full lesson available for purchase from OnlineLessonVideos.)
• Additional Resources
  • Web page – The Session: Redican’s Mother slip jig – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and more
  • Web page – Henrik Norbeck’s ABC Tunes: Fisherman’s – sheet music and ABC notation, transcribed from Matt Molloy’s playing on the album Heathery Breeze