Claggy Jacks

by Margaret Watchorn

You might call it goosegrass, cleavers and sticky-willy, but the local name for the plant in north Northumberland is Claggy Jacks. The rhythms of these names scramble through the tune. It’s a 3/2 hornpipe with a good bounce and sounds great on Northumbrian smallpipes with G and D drones. Any other instrument is fine too!

The harmony line winds around the melody, just like the plant climbs up a hedge, but you can do your own thing. We never play it the same way twice!

Margaret Watchorn grew up in Northumberland amid a rich local and family heritage of music, dances, songs and stories, many learnt from her parents and grandparents. As a teenager in the 1970s, her father made her a set of Northumbrian smallpipes and she began playing at the Alnwick Pipers’ Society, learning with Joe Hutton. Most of all, she spent endless happy hours playing the fiddle and piano with musicians from the older generation.

These days, Margaret performs regularly with her husband, Andy, a fine Northumbrian smallpipes player. As well as directing an early music singing group and singing in a chamber choir, Margaret finds time for composing and for researching the music of north Northumberland.