The Battering Ram

Jig, G, traditional Irish
Also known as: An Ram Cogadh; An Reithe Toghla

A sweet Irish jig, curiously named for an instrument of violence and destruction.

Recordings

• Video – Arcady: The Battering Ram / The Geese in the Bog / The Pipe On the Hob
• Video – Comhaltas: The Battering Ram – session recording from the album Foinn Seisiún 2: Traditional Irish Session Tunes.
• Video – Celtic Fiddle Festival: The Battering Ram / The Kilfenora Jig – from the album Rendezvous (Kevin Burke, Johnny Cunningham, Christian Lemaître)

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.

About the Chords: This arrangement uses D5 chords. These are “open” or “omit 3” chords, which are neither major nor minor. The D5 chord consists of the notes D and A.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Battering Ram Jig Set: I Buried My Wife and Danced on her Grave / The Battering Ram / Connaughtman’s Rambles
• The Battering Ram / The Geese in the Bog / The Pipe On the Hob
• The Battering Ram / Bill Harte’s / Ward’s Jig
• The Battering Ram / The Kilfenora Jig

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – Shane Farrell: The Battering Ram Jig. Irish Tenor Banjo Music – solo tenor banjo
  • Video – The Battering Ram / Munster Buttermilk – solo flute, from the album Traditional Irish Flute Music
  • Video – Tulla Ceili Band: The Battering Ram / Bill Harte’s / Ward’s Jig (Jigs)
  • Video – Michelle Mulcahy: The Battering Ram / Winnie Hayes’ / the Cordal Jig – played on harp. From the album Suaimhneas.
  • Video – Pat Barton Accordion: The Battering Ram – Irish traditional jig on button accordion – played on b/c/c# diatonic button accordion
• Books
  • Book – Foinn Seisiún, Volume 2 — Published by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
  • Book & Audio – Grey Larsen: Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle (also available from the author’s website)
  • Book & Audio – Dave Mallinson: 100 Essential Irish Session Tunes
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes – sheet music with tin whistle recordings
  • Book – Michael D. Long: The King Street Sessions Tunebook (Interactive edition by Michael Eskin) – free downloadable book in PDF format. The Interactive edition by Michael Eskin adds playable ABC transcriptions.
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Mossie Martin: The Battering Ram (Jig) – fiddle lesson. Video demonstration of the tune played on fiddle at a moderate tempo
  • Lesson – Mossie Martin: The Battering Ram (Jig) – tin whistle lesson. Video demonstration of the tune played on tin whistle at a moderate tempo
  • Lesson – Aidan Crossey (The Irish Mandolin): The Battering Ram REVISITED – a 3 part jig in G Maj tabbed for mandolin and played by Aidan Crossey – video, solo mandolin with on-screen sheet music and tablature
  • Lesson – Hatao (hatao’s Irish tune of the day): 282 The Battering Ram (Double Jig, G) – video demonstration of the tune played on flute, with on-screen sheet music
• Additional Resources
  • Web page – The Session: The Battering Ram (Jig) – crowdsourced sheet music, comments and more
  • Web page – irishtune.info: Battering Ram – archival information about the tune, curated by Alan Ng