The Hag with the Money

Jig, D, traditional Irish
Also known as: Cailleach an Airgid

The Hag with the Money is a savory and striding Irish jig. As a tune, it flirts with the Mixolydian mode without making any commitment to it. As a song, firmly in the Mixolydian mode, it sings of a woman respected for her character, strength, and wealth.

She’s your grandmother, she’s your grandmother
She’s your grandmother, the hag with the money
She’s your grandmother, the woman with silver and gold
And she’d ride in coaches on the roads of Cois Fharraige

— translated verse from Cailleach an Airgid, from The Joe Heaney Archives

What is a hag? The Irish word behind many “hag” titles is cailleach. In its simplest sense, it means an old woman, or old wife. But it is a richer word than that. It can suggest age, widowhood, household authority, folk wisdom, comic sharpness, or even supernatural power. In some stories, An Chailleach is a great mythic crone of winter and wild places. But in tune titles like “The Hag with the Money” or “The Hag at the Churn,” “hag” does not have to mean an ugly, wicked, cackling witch. It may simply mean an older woman — memorable enough to get a tune named after her.

Song, Air, and Jig – The Hag with the Money is one of those Irish melodies that lives in more than one form: as a song, an air, and a double jig. As a jig, it is often played in D major, while related song and air versions tend to reveal more of the melody’s Mixolydian character. As a song, it is titled Cailleach an Airgid (“the hag/old woman of the money”) or sometimes ’Sí do Mhaimeo Í (“she is your granny”). The song melody is often heard with a Mixolydian character, which means that, in D Mixolydian, the C notes are sung or played as C-natural rather than C-sharp. A related air is known as I Was Born for Sport, a 3/8 pipe air.

If you are a bit hazy on the Mixolydian mode, see the article “Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell” for a brief and friendly explanation.

Recordings

• Video – Patrick Madden and Friends: Top of Cork Road or Father O’Flynn – Sliabh Russell – The Hag with the Money From the album Sounds of St Andrews. (The Hag with the Money starts at time 2:59 in this recording.)
• Video – Craig Duncan: Hag With The Money / The Kerfunten (Medley) – from the album Irish Country Dance
• Video – Dan Compton & Fran Slefer: The Hag with the Money / Out on the Ocean – from the album Session at the Cottage

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.

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Hag on the Mountain Jig Set: Have a Drink with Me (G) / Sliabh Russell (A Dorian) / The Hag with the Money (D)
• Out on the Ocean / The Hag with the Money
• The Hag with the Money / Old Hag you have Killed Me / The Hag at the Churn
• The Hag With The Money / The Kerfunten
• The Hag with the Money / Out on the Ocean / I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – Altan: Sí Do Mhaimeo Í – song, from the album Harvest Storm
  • Video – Alan McCartney, Jason O’Rourke, Brendan O’Hare, Ray Gallen, Paul Bradley: Out On The Ocean / The Hag With The Money – from the album Traditional Irish Music From Belfast. (The Hag with the Money starts at time 1:32 in this recording.)
  • Video – Na Connerys: Hag with the Money, Na Ceannabain Bana, Paidin O’ Rafferty – from the album Best of Irish Pub Music
• Books
  • Book & audio – Grey Larsen: 300 Gems of Irish Music for All Instruments
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes (The tune is in the key of G in this book.)
  • 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 – Enda Scahill (Irish Banjo & Mandolin with Enda Scahill): The Hag With The Money – 3 Different Ways To Play This Jig – video, tenor banjo lesson. Three versions of the tune: the song melody in D Mixolydian; the session version in D major; a hybrid version.
  • Lesson – Hatao (hatao’s Irish tune of the day): – 217 The Hag with the Money (Double Jig, D Ionian) – video lesson. Tune played on flute with and without on-screen sheet music.
• Additional Resources
  • Web page – The Session: The Hag with the Money – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and more
  • Web page – irishtune.info: Cailleach an Airgid – archival information about the tune, curated by Alan Ng
  • Web page – Cartlanna Sheosaimh Uí Éanaí (The Joe Heaney Archives): Cailleach an Airgid – listen to Joe Heaney sing, lilt, and explain the song; lyrics in Irish and English (translation).
  • Article – Jonathan Lay (TrailJams): Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell