"The Chorus Jigg", also known as "The Chorus Reel", "The Glen Road to Carrick" and "On the Road" is an Irish, Scottish, English and American reel in D Mixolydian (Bowman, Miller & Perron/1977 & 2006), D Major & G Major (Brody, Burchenal, Miller & Perron/1983, Silberberg), G Major {Ditson, Miller & Perron} or D Major ('A' & 'C' parts) & G Major ('B' part/Phillips: 'B' and 'D' parts/Sweet). The parts are played One part (Burchenal), AB (Silberberg), ABCC or ABAC (ending on the A or B part)[Brody], AABC (Ditson, Miller & Perron/1977), ABCD (Sweet), AABCCB (Kaufman), AA'BCC'B (Phillips), AABCCD (Miller & Perron/1983) or AABCC'DD (O'Neill).
The tune is a distanced variant of "The Sligo Chorus".
Despite the title, the tune is a reel, with long histories both in Ireland and the United States. Linscott (1948) explains:
"'The Chorus Jig' has always been a favorite with pipers. It is an Irish melody whose author and date are unknown. Jigs were originally tunes sung after a play by the clowns. During the 17th century everyone sang them and the dances were performed by persons of all ranks."
Although the tune is Irish, the dance figures seem English according to experts. It was commonly included in dance and tune books by the 1850's and can be found in an 1822 American collection called The Musical Cabinet and, earlier, in skeletal form in a 1793 manuscript of George Otis. It was one of the tunes appearing in a repertoire list of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham, who was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's.
It was printed in Brody's Fiddler's Fakebook (1983), Burchenal's American Country Dances, vol. 1 (1918), Oliver Ditson's The Boston Collection of Instrumental Music (c. 1850), Dunham's Mellie Dunham's 50 Fiddlin' Dance Tunes (1926), Feldman & O'Doherty's Northern Fiddler (1978), Elias Howe's First Part of the Musician's Companion (1842), Musician's Omnibus No. 1 (1863) and 1000 Jigs and Reels (c. 1867), Kaufman's Beginning Old Time Fiddle (1977), Linscott's Folk Songs of Old New England (1939), Miller & Perron's Irish Traditional Fiddle Music (1977) (appears as "Chorus Reel"), Irish Traditional Fiddle Music, 2nd Edition (2006) (appears as "Chorus Reel") and New England Fiddlers Repertoire (1983), O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907) (appears as "Chorus Reel"), Phillips' Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1 (1994), Saunders' New and Complete Instructor for the Violin (1847), Silberberg's Fiddle Tunes I Learned at the Tractor Tavern (2002), Sweet's Fifer's Delight (1964/1981) and Vallely's Play 50 Reels with the Armagh Pipers Club (1982).
It was recorded by Alcazar Dance Series FR 203 on New England Chestnuts (1980), Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra on Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra (1972), Jerry O'Sullivan on The Celts Rise Again (1990) and The Invasion (1987), John McCutcheon on How Can I Keep From Singing (1975), Allan Block and Ralph Lee Smith on Allan Block and Ralph Lee Smith (1971), various artists on The Village Green: Dance Music of Old Sturbridge Village, The Chieftains on The Celtic Harp (1993), Frank Ferrel on Boston Fiddle: The Dudley Street Tradition (1996), Julia Clifford with Con Curtin and Denis McMahon on Paddy in the Smoke (1997), Dave Swarbarick on Swarbrick 2 (1977), Trapezoid on Trapezoid (1975) and Mellie Dunham (78 RPM) (1926).