Jig Doll/Limberjack history, from Italy to the UK, from France to The Netherlands and instructions on how to make your own, learn to dance your doll. The best place to find out all you want to know about Jig Dolls.

There are two schools of thought about the origin and history of Jig Dolls. The accepted history is that Jig Dolls originated in Italy as early as the sixteenth century and that current day Jig Dolls are simply another branch on the family of dancing dols, with older versions known as Poupées à la Planchette or Marionettes à la Planchette. These puppets, operated by a horizontal string attached to the musician's leg, 'danced' on a board on the ground as the musician tapped his foot. They were, and still are, popular street entertainment throughout Europe.

Research in the latter half of the 20th century into quite a different aspect of European exploration and colonisation has thrown up another, quite believable, origin. When searching through the archives in the museum in Assen, The Netherlands, a Dutch puppeteer and educator came across drawings from some of the very first expeditions to what was then known as the New World. There were of course at that time no cameras or video recorders, so many drawings were made of all the new things that these explorers found. Many of the drawings show Native Americans and several of them show the use of a dancing doll with a stick in its back.

The accepted theory was that Jig Dolls had been taken from Europe to the Americas by sailors on board of these ships, but there is one small problem there: there is no evidence of Jig Dolls in Europe before the dates those drawings in Assen were made. Any mentions of them come well after these drawings.

It is, to our mind, logical that the Jig Dolls were brought by sailors on board these ships not from Europe to the Americas, but the other way around.

Sailors on 18th and 19th century sailing vessels were known to make their own Jig Dolls and use them as entertainment and percussion in the Foofoo bands that existed on board these ships.

Jig Dolls spread across Europe and were a staple in homes, pubs, at fairs and even simply on street corners: you might know the song "Whisky on a Sunday", the story of the Jamaican singer/entertainer Seth Davy, seated on the corner of Bevington Bush in Liverpool at the beginning of 1900s dancing his Jig Dolls on his jig plank. The song was made famous in the 60's by Irish folksinger Danny Doyle and stayed at No. 1 in the Irish charts for ten weeks.

So the history of the Jig Doll is by no means settled, and hopefully there will be others attracted to research this lovable percussion instrument.

Instructions
1. Choose a flat bottomed chair or table. Sit firmly on about 6 inches/15cm of the end of the board and hold the Jig Doll with its toes just touching the board. Hold the doll with the left hand. (Or right if you’re strange.)
2. With the closed hand gently beat time on the dancing board about 6 inches/15 centimeters in front of the chair.
3. The Jig Doll is a very independent sort. All it wants you to do is hold it over the board, beat time with your right hand and gently roll him sideways, backwards and forewards. Everything else it will do itself and the more you leave it to it, the better it will like it.
4. Don't hurry it! Don't worry it! It has a lot more in it than you may think and as soon as you get to know each other, it will suit you with every movement.
5. Avoid stopping the vibrations of the board by tapping it too often. Try and keep time with the vibrations and let them do their work.
6. The Jig Doll is fond of turning a summersault now and then. When it wants to go, don't hinder it. Let it have its liberty. It comes up smiling every time.
7. Whistle, sing a bright catchy tune or take it along to a session, the Jig Doll will be with it every time!
8. Practice dancing your Jig Doll with the recommended downloadable music on www.jigdoll.com (coming soon)