The Cordal Jig

Jig, D, Traditional Irish & English
Also known as Julia Clifford’s; Julia Clifford’s Favourite; Morgan Rattler

The Cordal Jig is one of those chameleon tunes that works nicely to connect tunes in a set, being able to flow from major harmony at its start to minor harmony at its end. This traditional jig takes its name “Cordal” from a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is also known as Julia Clifford’s and Morgan Rattler, and it has found its way into Irish, English, and North American dance traditions.

Recordings

• Video – Bobbi Nikles: Cordal Jig – Cul Augh – Karen Tweed’s – played on fiddle. From the album Fire in the Air
• Video – Comhaltas: Julia Clifford’s – from the album Foinn Seisiún 3
• Audio – Stephen Ducke: The Cordal Jig

Dots (Music Notation)

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.

Alternative Chords

Here is an alternative version of chords to accompany the tune. (From The Portland Collection, Vol. 2.)

(A Part)
G A | D – | G A | Bm – |
G A | D – | – A | Bm – |
(B Part)
D – | A – | D – | – A |
D – | A – | D – | Bm – |

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• The Cordal Jig / The Rolling Wave (a.k.a. The Humours of Trim; The Rolling Waves)

References and Resources

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

• Other Recordings
  • Video – Katie Grennan: The Cordal / The Rolling Wave (Jigs) – from the album The Second Story
  • Video – Gerry O’Connor: Tom Billy’s Jigs – played on tenor banjo. The set: Old Joe’s / The Cordal /Billy In The Low Ground / The Temperance. Gerry plays The Cordal in Eb in this recording, with his banjo capo on the first fret. The Cordal starts at time 1:40 in the video.
• Lessons
  • Lesson – MandoLessons: Cordal Jig – mandolin lesson for mandolin, with video, sheet music, and play-along tracks.
  • Lesson – MandoLessons: The Cordal Jig Double Stops and Ornaments (With Tabs) – Mandolin Lesson
  • Lesson – François Breugnot: Julia Clifford’s favourite – jig – fiddle technique demonstrated and explained (in French)
  • Lessons – Online Academy of Irish Music: Julia Clifford’s Jig – lessons for playing the tune on D tin whistle with variation and ornamentation. (Requires subscription.)
• Books
  • Book – The Portland Collection, Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest, Volume 2, by Susan Songer with Clyde Curley.
  • Book: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes by Stephen Ducke – with audio
  • Book – Comhaltas: Foinn Seisiún, Volume 3 – the tune is listed as Julia Clifford’s Favourite
• Other Resources
  • Web page – The Session: The Cordal Jig – crowdsourced sheet music and information