The White Petticoat

Jig, Em, traditional Irish

A haunting and beautiful Irish jig.

Recordings

• Video – Kevin Burke & Cal Scott: The Irish Session Suite 1st Movement – 4 Jigs – White Petticoat/Luck Penny/Cliffs of Moher/Tom Billy’s Jig – from the album Suite (Portland, Oregon)
• Audio – George Penk, Clyde Curley, Susan Songer: The White Petticoat – from the album A Portland Selection 2 (Portland, Oregon)
• Video – Patrick Street: The White Petticoat / The Kerry Jig / Katy Is Waiting – from the album Cornerboys

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.

• Rollicking Petticoat Jig Set: The White Petticoat / Donnybrook Fair / The Rollicking Boys of Tandragee
• Sliabh Russel / Scatter the Mud / The White Petticoat
• The Independent​ /​ Lacey​’​s Jig ​/​ The White Petticoat
• The White Petticoat / The Kerry Jig / Katy Is Waiting
• The White Petticoat / Stan Chapman’s / The Miller’s Maggot

References and Resources

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

• More Recordings
  • Video – Banna De Dhá: Comb Your Hair & Curl It / The White Petticoat / The Black Rogue from the album Band of Two. Banna De Dhá is comprised of Tom Morley & Hazel Ketchum. (The White Petticoat begins at time 1:48 in this recording.)
  • Audio – Tim Ball and Sophie Orzechowski: The Independent ​/​ Lacey​’​s Jig​/ ​The White Petticoat – played on fiddle and flute with guitar. From the album Life of Their Own. (Ithaca, New York, USA. The White Petticoat starts at time 2:03 in this recording.)
  • Video – Solas: The White Petticoat / Stan Chapman’s / The Miller’s Maggot – from the album Solas
• Books
  • Book – Susan Songer with Clyde Curley: The Portland Collection, Volume 2 – Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest
  • Book & Audio – Stephen Ducke: Irish Music – 400 Traditional Tunes
  • Book – O’Neill: Music of Ireland – Francis (Cpt.) O’Neill,1903 (A.k.a., O’Neill’s 1850)
• Lessons
  • Lesson – Kevin Burke (Fiddlevideo): The White Petticoat Jig – fiddle lesson video preview. (Full lesson requires subscription to Fiddlevideo.)
  • Lesson – Tergal14 Mandolin: Irish mandolin lessons. White Petticoat (jig) – video shows tune played on mandolin, with tab included in video.
• Additional Resources
  • Tin whistle tablature – Learn Tin Whistle: The White Petticoat – sheet music and tab for playing the tune on a D whistle.
  • Webpage – The Session: The White Petticoat – crowdsourced sheet music, comments, and more.
  • Webpage – The Irish Traditional Music Tune Index: White Petticoat – archival information about the tune, curated by Alan Ng.