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Jig Dolls
I'm currently reading very small book exploring the connections between matachin (a historical sword dance) and morris.
One one page is this photo (which I also found on the morris ring web site) The photo was taken in 1896 by Henry Taunt and is of the Chipping Camden morris dancers. It's one of the earliest morris photos known.
You can see the classic white Cotswold morris costume and the bells, (and the rosettes that many teams also wore), but the thing that actually caught my eye was the doll in the centre. See it? Down by his feet, hanging from the box that's hanging over his shoulder.
Now look at his feet. See that small plank with one foot under it and one foot resting on it? The doll's feet are resting on the plant and it has thin, jointed, legs.
It's a jig doll, but of a size and style that I've never seen before.
"What is a jig doll?" I hear you ask. See below (they also appear to be an Appalachian tradition)
No discussion of jig dolls would be complete without a reference to the Ballad of Seth Davy (Whisky on a Sunday)
See this link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjfk2turxY&feature=related
Seth Davy was a real person and one of the few black people to be referenced in a folk song. Here's and old photo of him in Liverpool- http://aliverpoolfolksongaweek.blogspot.com/2011/08/21-seth-davy.html He used to perform in the street with his jog dolls.
You can buy jig dolls (or make your own). Here's one site that sells them, Must admit that I'm occasionally tempted to get one myself. (I've seen some very nice ones occasionally made in the colours of specific morris teams.)
One one page is this photo (which I also found on the morris ring web site) The photo was taken in 1896 by Henry Taunt and is of the Chipping Camden morris dancers. It's one of the earliest morris photos known.
You can see the classic white Cotswold morris costume and the bells, (and the rosettes that many teams also wore), but the thing that actually caught my eye was the doll in the centre. See it? Down by his feet, hanging from the box that's hanging over his shoulder.
Now look at his feet. See that small plank with one foot under it and one foot resting on it? The doll's feet are resting on the plant and it has thin, jointed, legs.
It's a jig doll, but of a size and style that I've never seen before.
"What is a jig doll?" I hear you ask. See below (they also appear to be an Appalachian tradition)
No discussion of jig dolls would be complete without a reference to the Ballad of Seth Davy (Whisky on a Sunday)
See this link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjfk2turxY&feature=related
Seth Davy was a real person and one of the few black people to be referenced in a folk song. Here's and old photo of him in Liverpool- http://aliverpoolfolksongaweek.blogspot.com/2011/08/21-seth-davy.html He used to perform in the street with his jog dolls.
You can buy jig dolls (or make your own). Here's one site that sells them, Must admit that I'm occasionally tempted to get one myself. (I've seen some very nice ones occasionally made in the colours of specific morris teams.)
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I'm familiar with the Dubliners' cover of Whiskey on a Sunday but I hadn't heard the one you linked to before. Very lovely. I just found this interesting version featuring Rolf Harris singing while operating a jig doll:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ayfm216MuE
They look like a fun thing to make. Would you like to collaborate on one?
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I need a thin board to experiment with...
I would have linked to the Rolf Harris version, but the 'son' of Seth Davy was white, so it felt wrong knowing the song's background.
I would love to be involved in making a jig doll! How can I help collaborate?
It does sound like an excellent woodcraft project.
The joints at shoulder, knee and hip need to be very loose so that they can freely rotate. If I recall correctly (and I might be wrong) they are usually pinned in some way. The foot (I think) is fixed in relation to the leg. the head is part of the body.
I agree, I thought the box was a collection tin as well.
I think the doll is hanging from the box. It makes sense for the collector to have the doll.
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An interesting thing I've noticed from the small amount of research I've done is that the knee joints are usually unrestricted - ie. they can swing both ways. When they are moving quickly enough though it's not obvious.
I would enjoy carving a good quality jig doll to your specifications. How would you feel about painting and costuming it?
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I particularly like "Ironman Morris" on this page: http://www.jigdolls.co.uk/otherdolls.html
How about making something along those lines?
He also makes a gadget for converting a doll to foot operation:
http://www.jigdolls.co.uk/accessories.html
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I think something very similar, but in Anonymous style, probably based on Henry.
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io8EMbkianc for my son with the 'jig doll' joints!
Don't see the point in operating a small doll by foot. Rather loses the point of people being able to see it.
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Would you be able to send me a reference photo to work from? How tall do you think it should be?
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They go high res if you click on them.
I haven't got one on the web site of him standing still. (see if you can see this one on Google+ - https://plus.google.com/photos/106166224635586159957/albums/5628511699831698529)
Basically, identical to the 'Ironman' except that he's wearing ordinary black shoes (instead of clogs with bells on) and the costume is black all over. It's a top hat rather than a bowler. The tatter jacket, I can add by hand with scraps of the actual fabrics.
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What might the chap in the flat cap, to our left of the doll manipulator, be doing? He seems to have something bundled under his arm.
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I was wondering what he had under his arm as well. There's a slight chance it's a small bagpipe of some kind, but I'm not convinced.
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Thank you for the links - and food for my fading IQ!:-)
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From what I recall (unfortunately these are all very vague memories) he had a stand with something like a wide coat-hanger on the top and then three dolls would hang from that dance in front of him as he tapped his foot.
Also a little searching also found this article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jig_doll
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I'm now trying to decide if the guy in the photo has the doll tied to his leg or hanging from the collection box.
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The guy appears to have his right foot holding down a sort of base plate with a wedge at the end of it and there seems to be a stand coming up from that and I think there's then a rod that goes into the middle of the doll's back.
His left foot looks like it's on what is presumably a springy plank, so as he taps his left foot, the doll would dance.
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All you'd need is some old fashioned "Peg Doll" clothespegs [url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dolly-Traditional-Wooden-Washing-Clothes/dp/B002EHRCB2/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/275-7754607-7960159]like these[/url] some lolly sticks for arms and legs, drawing pins and paper fasteners to hold them in place and maybe eg some wooden rulers for them to dance on.
Add some crayons etc to colour them in and you're sorted :-)
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