Annotation:Sporting Pitchfork
SPORTING PITCHFORK, THE. Irish, Double Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Opinions vary on whether this jig should be categorized as in the key of D Mixolydian (as in the beginning of the tune) or G Major (as at the cadence). However, practically, accompanists seem to have an easier time with the ambiguous signature when instructed that it is a 'G' tune that begins on the fifth ('D' chord). The jig has been associated with uilleann pipe repertory. The tune was famously paired with “The Rambling Pitchfork” on the 1978 Paddy Glackin/Paddy Keenan album (Doublin’), the medley being known as ‘The Pitchforks’. ‘Pitchfork’ in the title refers to an itinerant farm laborer, called after his tool of trade in the same way that a gunman on a payroll in the American west was referred to as a ‘hired gun’.
