The Tailor’s Twist

Hornpipe, D, traditional Irish
Also known as: Tailors Twist; The Jolly Butchers
TrailJams Tune of the Week: August 10, 2025

A bright and twisty Irish hornpipe.

The “twist” in the tune’s title refers to sewing threads that are twisted together to make a stouter and stronger thread. A typical use of twist is for the stitching around buttonholes. In Beatrix Potter’s children’s book The Tailor of Gloucester, first published in 1903, cherry-colored twist for buttonholes is a crucial plot ingredient. In 1988, Rabbit Ears Productions produced a storyteller version with narration by Meryl Streep, drawings by David Jorgensen and music by The Chieftains. (For more about the book, and how twist is made, see the References and Resources section below.)

For the poor old tailor was very ill with a fever, tossing and turning in his four-post bed; and still in his dreams he mumbled — “No more twist! no more twist!”

(Beatrix Potter, The Tailor of Gloucester, 1903)

Recordings

• Video – Andy McGann & Paddy Reynolds: Tailor’s Twist / Callanan’s Retreat – from the album Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds (with Paul Brady)
• Video – The Dubliners: The Tailor’s Twist / Ryan’s Hornpipe – from the album 30 Years A Greying
• Video – Brian Hughes: Hornpipes, The Fly By Night / The Tailor’s Twist – played on tin whistle, with accompaniment. From the album Meascra – Whistle Stop. (The Tailor’s Twist starts at time 2:01 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.

Note for tin whistle: there are two notes in the A part of the tune that are too low for the range of a D whistle. Play those A notes an octave higher. (The TrailJams Tune Camp tutorial for this tune includes a tin whistle version, which has those low A notes shifted up an octave.)

Sets

Examples of sets that include this tune.

• Tailor’s Twist Hornpipe Set: The Plains of Boyle (D) / The Tailor’s Twist (D)
• The Tailor’s Twist / Alexander’s Hornpipe
• Dunphy’s Hornpipe / The Tailor’s Twist
• The Tailor’s Twist / The Sailor’s Hornpipe
• The Tailor’s Twist / The Friendly Visit
• The Tailor’s Twist / Ryan’s Hornpipe

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – Celtic Fiddle Festival: The Tailor’s Twist / The Sailor’s Hornpipe – from the album Rendezvous (Kevin Burke, Johnny Cunningham, Christian Lemaître)
  • Video – Brian Conway: Tailor’s Twist/Galway Bay/O’Kelly’s Fancy – from the album Consider the Source
  • Video – Concertinette: The Tailor’s Twist (Irish hornpipe, on concertina) – solo concertina
  • Video – John Whelan: The Tailors Twist – solo button accordion
  • Video – The Whistler: Tailor’s Twist (Hornpipe) – solo tin whistle
  • Video – Brian Hughes Performs ‘The Tailor’s Twist’ on the Eb Wild Whistle | McNeela Music – solo Eb tin whistle
  • Video – Ken Perlman: Taylor’s Twist – fingerstyle guitar solo, from the album Clawhammer Banjo and Fingerstyle Guitar Solos
• Books
  • Book & Audio – Peter Cooper: Complete Irish Fiddle Player (Mel Bay Publications)
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Book & audio – Ken Perlman: Melodic Clawhammer Banjo
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Kevin Burke (Fiddlevideo): The Tailor’s Twist (Hornpipe) – Trad Irish Fiddle Lesson. (Partial lesson; full lesson requires a subscription to Fiddlevideo.)
  • Lesson – Hatao (hatao’s Irish tune of the day): The Tailor’s Twist (Hornpipe, D) – video demonstration of the tune played on tin whistle, at two tempos.
  • Lesson – Josh Ó Lochlainn: The Tailor’s Twist – tenor banjo tutorial video with tablature. Posted in Banjoheads (private group) on Facebook as Tune of the Month for August 2020 (#TOTM0820). (Requires membership in the Banjoheads private group. Membership is free.)
• Additional Resources
  • About the tune
    • Web page – The Session: The Tailor’s Twist (hornpipe) – crowdsourced sheet music, comments and more
    • Web page – irishtune.info: Tailor’s Twist – archival information about the tune, curated by Alan Ng
    • Web page – The Traditional Tune Archive: Tailor’s Twist, The – archival information about the tune, with sheet music and ABC notation
  • About the tailor’s material, “twist”
    • Video – Bias Bespoke: How to Make Buttonhole Twist Thread from Thinner Thread – video demonstration of making “twist” buttonhole thread in one color and in two colors.
    • Book – Project Gutenberg: The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter – read the antique book online, or download the book or its images. Free.
    • Article – Wikipedia: The Tailor of Gloucester – a brief article about Beatrix Potter’s book and about the real “no more twist” incident that the story is based on.
    • Video – Rabbit Ears Entertainment: The Tailor of Gouchester – Read by Meryl Streep, with drawings by David Jorgensen and music by The Chieftains.