For most of its performing and recording life this jig presents itself as double jig-like in the A part and slip-like jig in the B part, or so it feels to me. I first heard the Chieftains play both forms of The Rolling Wave, and I must say, I do enjoy playing the slip jig form of this tune.
tommykleen
I guess you’re talking about the “Humours of Trim” version of RW |FEF DED|D2d cAG|, not the other one |F2E EDE|F2D D2E| ?
IIRC, tommykleen calls t’other one “The Lonesome Jig”. So, I would presume to put my foot in and say yes, he means The Humo(u)rs of Trim. 
Assuming that MrGuru Sir’s assumption is correct, it’s one of my favourite, favourite tunes. I love it. To bits. But I don’t hear anything of a slip jig about it. You mention “both forms” of the tune. I only know the one version. (Unless it’s the other tune, which is also a double jig.)
Anyway, what am I missing?
The Humors of Trim/Rolling Wave has been more than once misconstrued to be a slip jig in my neck of the woods. In contrast to tommykleen, though, to my mind the distinctive A section is the culprit. I’ve had people sit down and count it out just to make the point that it’s a 6/8, not a 9/8.
Séamus Ennis (in his notes for one of the Clancy recordings) suggested it switches from 6/8 , 9/8 and 3/8
Bro Steve, years ago on the whistle forum, posted this:
T:Rolling Wave, The :9/8
L:1/8
R:jig
Z:“Brother Steve” Jones
N:An attempt to reproduce the accents correctly with mixed time-signatures
K:D
FEF DED D2d |M:3/8 L:1/8 cAG |M:9/8 F3 DED A2 F |M:3/8 L:1/8 GFE |!
M:9/8 F3 DED D2d |M:3/8 L:1/8 cAG | M:6/8 FAF GBG|[1 A2 F GFE 
[2 M:9/8 A2 F GFE D2d || !
: cAd cAd cAG|M:6/8 F2d cAG| M:9/8 FAF GFE D2d |
cAd fed cAG|M:6/8 FAF GBG|[1 M:9/8 A2 F GFE D2 d:|[2 M:6/8 A2 F GFE ||
Do some play it with C naturals rather than C sharps?
I quite like it with natural Cs.
I am here to confirm that tommykleen indeed plays a true 9/8 version of this tune. I remember a good many tunes from the old Chieftains’ albums, but somehow not this one; how appropriate that a slip jig was fated to slip my memory. Ahem. But I digress. Anyway, 'twas at yesterday’s session and he with a glint in his eye, and all I can say is that it was a good thing I was able to play backup (allowing for whatever tommykleen may have thought of it) because I would otherwise have had to have surrendered and put down my flute. 
@ Hans: McSherry or McGoldrick or one of those guys plays it with C naturals.
I play the Rolling Wave as learned from Liam O’ Flynn.
I play it with the beautiful C naturals even though the written version I have has C sharps.
Sounds better to me with the C natural.
The Rolling Wave is most definitely a “piping” tune! One of my favourites.
Cheers!
Richard
Yes, it has the feel of a pipe tune. If it was originally a mixolydian pipe tune, how does it end up being notated and played with a sharp seventh? Is this the influence of fiddle players, and why do they do it? I think this happened with many Scottish pipe tunes. Is this a fairly modern phenomena? And what is behind it? Just curious.
I think Richard meant uilleann piping tune (not GHB) where the C/C# alternation can be subject to considerable variability, just as on whistle or flute. Which doesn’t exclude, of course, the other possibility. It sits nicely on pipes, and pipers like the burbling low D crans: |FEF ~D3|~D2d cAG|
Yes, I’m aware that Richard is talking about uilleann pipes, his nice avatar pic leaves no doubt! And the phenomenon of many Scottish Highland pipe tunes appearing with G#s rather than G naturals in Scottish fiddle sheet music, a change from A mixolydian to A major, can well be totally unrelated.
Ah sure, the fiddles. Perhaps a case of: if you’ve got it (sharp 7th), flaunt it. And/or the art music tendency in some periods to majorize things.
Of course these end up on the cutting room floor when the tune is played as a slip jig 
t
I don’t know. It’s true that I love it with sharp Cs. At least one time through, I like to play an open D drone loudly while playing those C#s. Great. 
I’m still trying to imagine. Maybe something like this?
|FEF DAd cAG|FEF DAF GFE|FEF DAd cAG|FAF GBG AGE:|
|D2d cAd cAG|F2d cAG AGE|D2d cde fdA|FAF GBG AGE:|
I’ll post a clip somewhere.
t
I don’t think that was it. But whatever it was, it was mystifying, and a bewitchery. Tom? Would you be so good as to offer us some ABCs or dots?
[EDIT: Crosspost w/ Mr. Kleen.]
Here’s a quick-and-dirty-pre-coffee-6:00am-one-off of this tune.
tommykleen