The Fiddler’s Companion

© 1996-2008 Andrew Kuntz

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WH - WHE

 

 

Notation Note: The tunes below are recorded in what is called “abc notation.” They can easily be converted to standard musical notation via highlighting with your cursor starting at “X:1” through to the end of the abc’s, then “cutting-and-pasting” the highlighted notation into one of the many abc conversion programs available, or at concertina.net’s incredibly handy “ABC Convert-A-Matic” at

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html 

 

**Please note that the abc’s in the Fiddler’s Companion work fine in most abc conversion programs. For example, I use abc2win and abcNavigator 2 with no problems whatsoever with direct cut-and-pasting. However, due to an anomaly of the html, pasting the abc’s into the concertina.net converter results in double-spacing. For concertina.net’s conversion program to work you must remove the spaces between all the lines of abc notation, so that they are single-spaced, with no intervening blank lines. This being done, the F/C abc’s will convert to standard notation nicely. Or, get a copy of abcNavigator 2 – its well worth it.   [AK]

 

 

 

WHA... See also "Who..."

 

WHA CAN HELP IT. Scottish, Jig. C Major. Standard tuning. AAB. The melody is attributed to Niel Gow by his son Nathaniel in the Gow's Sixth Collection, 1822, but it first appeared in Malcolm MacDonald's Second Collection, printed in 1789 and dedicated to the Earl of Breadalbane, reprinted in 1797. MacDonald was a bass player in Nathaniel Gow's band and perhaps heard the tune played by Gow; MacDonald perhaps did not know who had written it. MacDonald (A Second Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1789; pg. 6.

X:1

T:Wha Can Help It

M:6/8

L:1/8

R:Jig

S:MacDonald – 2nd Collection of Strathspey Reels  (1789)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:C

 E | CEG GEG | AGA c2d | {f}edc (e/f/g)e \ dDD D2E | CEG GEG |

AGA c2f | {f}”tr”e2c (e/f/g).d | ecc c2 :| g | (e/f/g)e c2e | gag gec | faf ege |

afd d2f | (e/f/g)e c2e | gag gec | {f}e2c (e/f/g).d | ecc c2g | (e/f/g)e c2e |

gag gec | faf ege | afd d2f | ece fdf | ece f2a | gec (e/f/g)d | ecc c2 ||

 

WHA LEARNED YOW TO DANCE AND TODDLE?  Scottish. The tune appears in the Skene Manuscript of c. 1615. It is similar to the English tune "Cushion Dance." Flying Fish, Robin Williamson ‑ "Legacy of the Scottish Harpers, vol. 2."

 

WHA SAW THE FOURTY TWA. AKA- “Wha Saw the Forty-Second.” AKA and see “March Past,” “Wha’ Widna Fecht for Charlie.” Scottish, English; Air, Polka, Morris Dance Tune (2/4 time). G Major. Standard. AABB. The title refers to the British 42nd Regiment, the famous Scottish 1st Battalion Black Watch. The tune has been employed for a number of uses, including for a polka step in the North‑West (England) polka tradition and Irish polka (a variant called “Din Tarrant’s” [6]). It is perhaps most famous as an air belonging to the song “Wha’ Widna Fecht for Charlie,” but the melody also is associated with another song, a Glasgow street song, called “Wha saw the 42nd”, with the refrain:

***

Wha saw the Forty-Second,
Wha saw them gang awa?
Wha saw the Forty-Second,
Marching doon the Broomielaw

Some of them had kilts and bunnets,

Some o’ them had nane ava’,

Some o’ them had tartan troosers

Marchin’ tae the Broomielaw!         [Ed.: the Broomielaw was the Glasgow dock from which troopships sailed]

***
David Murray (Music of the Scottish Regiments, Edinburgh, 1994) says the song might refer to the irregular dress of replacement troops, made up of reservists and volunteers who had little notice before having to embark for overseas. Thus there was little time to equip or uniform them prior to marching to the troopships.
Murray says the Black Watch absorbed the tune and played “Wha saw the 42nd” when leaving a station; it was played when the regiment departed for the Korean War in 1953.

***

The song itself has been much parodied and rewritten. Nigel Gatherer finds several  variants, including “Wha saw the cotton-spinners?” which refers to a strike in Glasgow in the 1880’s. Another song goes:
***
Wha saw the tattie howkers,
Wha saw them gang awa?
Wha saw the tattie howkers,
       [howkers – from the Scottish ‘to dig’: tattie howkers = potato diggers]
.......... the Berwick Law?

***

Wha saw the Forty-Second,
Wha saw them gang awa?
Wha saw the Forty-Second,
Gaein' tae the wappenshaw.
          [wappenshaw = military parade]
***
Some o' them gat chappit tatties,
Some o' them gat nane ava;
Some o' them gat barley bannocks,
Gaein' tae the wappenshaw.

***
Wha saw the Forty-Second (etc)
***
Some o' them had tartan troosers,
Some o' them had nane ava;
Some o' them had green umbrellas,
Marchin' doon the Broomielaw.

***
Gatherer says that other variants mention the "Zulu war" and "Wha saw the bonnie lassies" (…Some had shoes and stockings on, ithers they had nane at a'" which is supposed to have referred to a pleasure boat tragedy).
Wade (Mally’s North West Morris Book), 1988; pg. 7.

 

WHA THE DEIL HAE WE GOTTEN FOR A KING?  AKA and see "The Wee(, Wee) German Lairdie," "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation," "The Rashes," "Playing Amang the Rashes." Scottish.

 

WHA' WIDNA FECHT. Scottish, Jig. G Major. Standard. AABB. A jig-time setting of “Wha Wadna Fecht for Charlie,” below. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 2; No. 308, pg. 34.

X:1

T:Wha’ Widna Fecht

M:6/8

L:1/8

R:Jig

S:Kerr – Merry Melodies, vol. 2, No. 208

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

GGG G2A|BAG Bcd|GGG G2A|BdB A3|GGG G2A|

BAG Bcd|egg dgg|Bgg A2d::Bdd ded|gdd ede|Bdd ded|

gdB A2d|Bdd ded|gdd edd|egg dgg|Bgg A2d:|

 

WHA' WADNA/WIDNA FECHT FOR CHARLIE. AKA and see “March Past,” “Wha Saw the Forty Twa,” "Will you go and marry Katie." Scottish, Strathspey. G Major (Kerr, Stewart-Robertson): F Major (Howe). Standard. AB (Howe): AABB (Athole): AA'BB' (Kerr). The title comes from a song by and unknown author to the melody "Will you go and marry Katie." "Wha Widna..." is one of the tunes sometimes used to accompany the dance Seann Triubhas (along with the more employed "Whistle o'er the lave o't"). In Ireland the tune is rendered as a polka that goes by the titles “Din Tarrant’s” [6], “Jim O’Keeffe’s,” “O’Keeffe’s (Polka)"[1] and  Mert Plunkett’s.A Scottish street song to the tune is called “Wha saw the 42nd?”

***

English morris dancers employ the tune as an accompaniment, calling it “March Past,” a term that often refers to the marching past of a military unit in review (i.e. the regimental band plays the specific regimental march past tune as they pass in review). In fact, “Wha’ Wadna Fecht” is the official march-past tune of the 22nd Cheshire Regiment, the last surviving English County Regiment of the Line, which adopted it in 1881. Despite the Jacobite-sounding title, David Murray (Music of the Scottish Regiments, Edinburgh, 1994, pg. 207) states the tune (at least as employed by the British army) commemorates the conquest of the province Sind, part of the Indian subcontinent and now part of Pakistan. The 22nd Cheshire’s were the only British unit involved in the fighting, a hard-fought campaign, that also included Indian forces of the East India Company’s Bombay army. The combined force was commanded by Sir Charles Napier, explains Murry, who, when he became Colonel of the 22nd in 1850 presented the regiment with new colours at Dagshai, near Simla, in the Himalayan foothills. Napier defeated the army of the Baluchis, some 30,000 men, with a force of just 2,800 of his own at the battle of Miani, and went on to become one of the most famous British Victorian era military figures.

***

Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; pg. 126. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 2; No. 122, pg. 15. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 167.

X:1

T:Wha Wad’na Fecht for Charlie

M:C

L:1/8

R:Strathspey

B:Stewart-Robertson – The Athole Collection (1884)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

D | GGG>A B>A B<d | GGG>c B<d A>B | GGG>A B<A B>d | e>gd>g B>g A :|

|:c | B>d de/f/ g>de>d | B>d de/f/ g>B A<c | B<d de/f/ g>de>d | e<gd<g B<g A :|

 

WHACK AT THE WHIGS, A (Buille Ar Na Uigaib). AKA and see “Curl the Wig,” "Leather the wig." Irish, Slip (Hop) Jig (9/8 time). G Dorian. Standard. AAB. The Whigs are an English political party. See also the related “Will You Come Down to Limerick?” O'Niell (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 424, pg. 84. Roche Collection, 1982; vol. II, pg. 27.

X:1

T:Whack at the Whigs, A

M:9/8

L:1/8

R:Slip Jig

S:O’Neill – Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 424

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

d | cAG G2d G2d | cAG G2d cAG | cAG G2d G2d | cde =f2d cAG :|

|: d2g faf g2g | d2g g2a bag | =f2f fge f2f | cAc =f2d cAG :|

 

WHALE POLKA, THE. English, Polka. England, Yorkshire. D Major. Standard tuning. AAB. Source for notated version: an MS collection by fiddler Lawrence Leadley, 1827-1897 (Helperby, Yorkshire) [Merryweather & Seattle]. Merryweather & Seattle (The Fiddler of Helperby), 1994; No. 95, pg. 54.

 


WHALEN'S BREAKDOWN. Canadian, Reel. C Major. Standard tuning. AA'BB. The tune was popularized by the great Canadian radio and TV fiddler Don Messer, originally from New Brunswick, Canada. A jig time variant is “Bride of the Winds.” Source for notated version: Vivian Williams (Seattle) [Phillips]. Page, Northern Junket, vol. 6, No. 8, February 1959; pg. 22. Page, Northern Junket, vol. 10, No. 10, October 1971; pg. 28. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; pg. 254. Alcazar Dance Series FR 204, Rodney Miller - "New England Chestnuts 2" (1981).

X:1

T:Whalen’s Breakdown

M:2/4

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Page – Northern Junket, vol. 10, No. 10 (1971)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:C

e/f/|g^f ag|g/a/g/e/ cd/c/|BG AB|c/B/c/d/ ee/f/|g^f ag|

g/a/g/e/ cd/c/|BG AB|(c2 c)z::G/F/|EC DE|F/E/F/G/ Ad/c/|

BG AB|c/B/c/d/ eG/F/|EC DE|F/E/F/G/ Ad/c/|BG AB|(c2 c)z:|

 

WHA'LL (Who'll) BE KING BUT CHARLIE (Se ‘n Righ a th’ again is fhčarr leinn AKA and see "Behind the Bush in the Garden [1]," "Fy Buckle Your Belt," "I Won't Do the Work" (Jig),  "I Sat in the Valley Green,"  "More Power to Ye,"  "Over the River (Water) to Charlie" (Pa.), "Royal Charlie," "Se'n Righ a th'againn is fearr leinn" (We Prefer Our Own King), "Times Are Mighty Hard."  Scottish, Air and Jig. C Major (Carlin, Fraser, Martin): D Major (Kerr). Standard tuning. One part (Hardie): AB (Carlin, Fraser, Howe, Martin): ABB' (Kerr). "Wha'll be King" has been called a "grand old Jacobite rallying song." "(It) is a melody common to Ireland as well as the Highlands of Scotland,‑‑but, having been known in this country since 1745, as one of the incentives of rebellion; if originally Irish, some of the troops or partisans engaged for Charles from that country might have brought it over,‑‑but the melody is simple and beautiful, assimilating itself very much to the style of either" (Fraser). This optimistic Jacobite song and tune (beginning "Wha'll be King but Charlie, the news frae Moidar cam' yestreen") has sometimes erroneously been attributed to Scottish fiddler Niel Gow, though he apparently never sought the honor. Bayard (1981) identifies the lyrics as anonymously composed, while the tune is, in its earliest printing, Captain Simon Fraser's "We Prefer Our Own King" (Se'n Righ atha ahuin is fear linn). Dunlay & Greenberg (1996) believe the setting of the tune in Kerr, which they say is “a rather strange combination of the keys D Major and B Dorian,” probably comes from Gale’s Pocket Companion (c. 1800), and that a related setting in C Major can be found in the Edinburg Repository of Music (1825). “Wha’ll be King” appears in The Songs of Scotland (1877) complete with Scots verses (though the parts are reversed from some instrumental versions). The jig is sometimes used to accompany the dance Flora MacDonald's Fancy, though "I Ha'e Laid a Herrin' is Salt" is the usually preferred tune (Emmerson, 1972). Irish versions of the tune are the well-known jig “Behind the Bush in the Garden [1]” and the slide “The Tidy Woman.” Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; No. 158, pg. 94. Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1816/1874; No. 136, pg. 55. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 44. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; pg. 136. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; No. 20, pg. 32. Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002; pg. 25. Green Linnet SIF‑1070, Silly Wizard ‑ "A Glint of Silver" (1986). Redwing Music RWMCD 5410, Abby Newton – “Castles, Kirks and Caves” (2001).

X:1

T:Wha’ll be King but Charlie

M:6/8

L:1/8

R:Air

S:Howe – 1000 Jigs and Reels (c. 1867)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A Minor

B | c2B c2d | e2f e2d | c2B c2d | e3A2B | c2d e2a | g2e d2e | c2A BA^G | A3A2 ||

B | c2A AGE | c2A AGE | c2A AGE | G3G2B | c2d e2a | g2e d2e | c2A BA^G |

A3A2B | c2A AGE | c2A AGE | edc dcB | cBA GAB | c2d e2a | g2e d2e | c2A BA^G | A3 A2 ||

 


WHA'LL DANCE WI' WATTIE. AKA and see "Cripple(d) Kitty." Shetland, Shetland Reel. Shetland, Nesting. A Mixolydian. Standard tuning. AABB. "A traditional reel from the North Mainland of Shetland. 'Wattie' was a seaman who was very fond of dancing. When he was home on leave and attending a local dance his partners had to work very hard to keep pace with him, and the word would go around 'Who'll dance with Wattie now?'" (Anderson). Anderson (Ringing Strings), 1983; pg. 79. Front Hall 018, How To Change a Flat Tire ‑ "Traditional Music of Ireland and Shetland" (1978. Learned from Shetland fiddler Tom Anderson).

 

WHAR WAD BONNY ANNE LIE. AKA and see "Where Wad Our Bonny Anne Lie," "Red House."

 

WHAR WAD OUR GUIDMAN LIE. AKA and see "Where Wad Our Guidman Lie," "Red House."

 

WHAT A BEAU YOUR GRANNY WAS. AKA – “What a Beau My Granny Was.” English, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The Hardy version is from Geminiani's The Entire New and Compleat Tutor for the Violin, however, the tune is also contained in the Aylemore Manuscript (currently held in the Barbican House Museum of the Sussex Archaeological Society, Lewes, England). The melody has been attributed to English composer William Shield, and, from the sound of the title may have begun as a song in a ballad opera. Gammon & Loughran (Sussex Tune Book), c. 1980’s. Trim (Trim Hardy), 1990; No. 88.

X:1

T:What a Beau My Granny Was
C:Aylemore MS
N:from the Knots of May repertoire
Q:1/4=180
I:abc2nwc
M:4/4
L:1/8
F:http://members.aol.com/LewesArmsFolk/Vol7.abc    2005-05-31
12:22:55

F:posted to Tradtunes 5/31/05
UT
K:D
f3d e3c|d2B2A2G2|F2A2d2f2|e2A2A2g2|
f3d e3c|d2B2A2G2|F2A2B2c2|[1d2D2D2g2:|[2d2D2D2D2
|:A3F A2F2|B3G B2G2|F2A2d2f2|e2A2A2A2|
A3F A2F2|B3G B2G2|F2A2B2c2|d2D2D2D2:|

 

WHAT AILS YOU? [1] (Go De Ta Ort?).  Irish, Single Jig. D Major. Standard. AABB. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 66. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903/1979; No. 1079, pg. 203. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 393. pg. 79.

X:1

T:What Ails You?

M:6/8

L:1/8

R:Single Jig

S:O’Neill – Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 393

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

A | d2d def | e2d c2A | B2B BAF| A2A ABc | d2d de f | e2d c2A | B2A GEF | D2D D2 :|

|: B | A2G FEF | A2A A2g | f2d edB | d2d d2B | A2G FEF | A2A A2A | Bcd edc | d2D D2 :|

 

WHAT AILS YOU? [2]. English, Reel.. D Major. Standard. AABB. Source for notated version: a c. 1847 music manuscript by Ellis Knowles, a musician from Radcliffe, Lancashire, England [Plain Brown Tune Book]. Plain Brown Tune Book, 1997; pg. 47.

 

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITHOUT TIMBER? AKA and see “Cill Chais.

 

WHAT CALL HAVE YOU TO ME NED. Irish, Double Jig. G Major. Standard. AABB. Levey (Dance Music of Ireland, 2nd Collection), 1873; No. 49, pg. 21. Roche Collection, 1982, Vol. 1; No. 122, pg. 50‑51.

X:1

T:What Call Have You to Me Ned

M:6/8

L:1/8

R:Jig

S:Levey – Dance Music of Ireland, 2nd Collection (1873)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

dBG GFG | GFG ABc | dBG {A}GFG | EAG FED | dBG GFG |

GFG Bcd | ceg dBG | ABG AFD :: (Bcd) (ded) | ded dcB |

(cde) e=fe | e=fe edc | (Bcd) (ded) | dBc dfa | gfe dcB | ABG FED :|

 

WHAT CAN HE GOTTEN TO GIVE HER?  Northumbrian. Title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800.

 

WHAT CARE I FOR ANYTHING NOW?  AKA ‑ "I Care for Nothing Now," "Ho gur coma leam h‑uile ni th'ann." Scottish, Jig. D Major. Standard tuning. AAB. This tune "is one of the songs of a desponding Jacobite, who thought life not worth enjoying, since the failure of Prince Charles's enterprise, but who afterwards lived to be convinced that its failure was the most fortunate thing that ever happened the country; and that, during the half‑century which has since elapsed, it has made more rapid strides to civilisation and improvement, than it did at any time since Noah's flood left it" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; Nop. 160, pg. 65.

 

WHAT CARE I FOR THE MINISTER? (Coma leam fhein am Ministear). Scottish, Jig (9/8 time). C Major. Standard tuning. AB. "The Highlanders, it would seem, were as much inclined as others to resist the authority assumed by the clergy, in extorting confessions, and venting public reproofs, &c., as the words to this air appear to intimate, and they felt pparticularly sore upon this point, if the clergyman was a worthless person himself" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 42, pg. 15. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 45.

X:1

T:What care I for the Minister

T:Coma leam fein am Ministear

M:9/8

L:1/8

S:Fraser Collection  (1874)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:C

G|E/F/GG G2c GEC|E/F/GG GAB c2e|E/F/GG G2c GEC|D2_B BFD F2D|

E/F/GG G2c GEC|E/F/GG GAB c2e|E/F/GG G2c GEC|D2_B BFD F2||g|

ecg eca gec|ecg eca f2a|ecg eca gec|_B2_b bfd f2g|ecg eca gec|ecg eca f2a|

gfe dcB cGE|D/E/FD _BFD F2||

                       

WHAT CARE I HOW FAIR SHE BE?  AKA and see "Shall I Wasting in Despair."

                       


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HER NOW?  AKA and see “Bashful Maid,” “Biddy Maloney,” “Maloney’s Fancy,” “Maloney’s Wife” “Mellonie’s Jig,” “Miss Ommany’s Reel,” “Paddy in London.” English, Jig. England, Northumberland. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The melody appears under this title in the 1770 music manuscript copybook of Northumbrian musician William Vickers, about whom little is known. Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 3; No. 458.

X:1

T:What Do you think of Hir [sic] Now

M:6/8

L:1/8

R:Jig

S:William Vickers’ music manuscript copybook, pg. 137  (1770)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

FGA AFA|AFA AFA|BGB AFA|BGE E3|FGA AFA|

AFA ABc|dcB AFd|AFD D3::afd gec|fdB ecA|

dBG AFA|BGE E3|agf gfe|fed edc|Bcd edc|dAF D3:|

                       

WHAT FAIRY-LIKE MUSIC. English (?). C Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Howe (Complete Preceptor for the Accordeon), 1843; pg. 26.

X:1

T:What Fairy-Like Music

M:3/8

L:1/8

S:Howe – Complete Preceptor for the Accordeon (1843)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:C

c/d/ | ee f/e/ | dd e/d/ | cdB | cG c/d/ | ee f/e/ | dd e/d/ | c/e/ d/f/ B/d/ | c2 :|

|: B/c/ | dd c/d/ | ee d/e/ | ff e/f/ | g2 c/d/ | ee f/e/ | dd e/d/ | c/e/ d/f/ B/d/ | c2 :|

                       

WHAT GUDGEONS ARE WE MEN. AKA and see "Down in the North Country."

                       

WHAT HIGH OFFENCES HAS MY FAIR LOVE TAKEN. The melody appears in the Skene Manuscript, c. 1615, but, according to Samuel Bayard (writing in his article “A Miscellany of Tune Notes”) is not Scottish. Florimond van Duyse, in Het Oude Nederlandsche Lied, II (Amsterdam, 1905), identifes it as a set of a French tune, “Est-ce Mars, le grand dieu des alarmes,” printed in Adruaen Valerius’ Nederlandtsche Gedenck-Clanck (1626). Coming almost full circle, however, the 1943 editor of Valerius maintains that it is the air of an even older English seaman’s song, “The new Sa-hoo.”

 

WHAT IF A DAY. English, Ballad Air (4/4 time). G Dorian (Chappell): E Minor (Kines). Standard tuning. One part (Kines): AABBCC (Chappell). This popular sixteenth century air, attributed to Thomas Campion, appears in Robinson's "Citharen Lessons" (1609), Giles Earle's "Song Book" (1626), "Friesche Lust‑Hof" (1634), Camphuysen's "Stichtelycke Rymen" (1647), the Skene MS (c. 1610), Forbes "Songs and Fancies" (1666), a University of Cambridge lute MS, and Sir John Hawkins' virginal transcripts. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Time), vol. 1, 1859; pg. 100. Kines (Songs From Shakespeare's Plays and Popular Songs of Shakespeare's Time), 1964; pgs. 66‑67.

 

WHAT IS THAT TO HIM WHOM IT DOES NOT CONCERN. AKA and see "Caide Sin Do'n Sin Nach mBaineann Sin Do."

 

WHAT JOYFUL TIMES?  AKA and see "Little Heathy Hill [1]."

 

WHAT MAKES A NIGGER LOVE 'TATERS SO. Old‑Time. This unfortunate title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954.

 

WHAT MEIKLE SORROW AILS YOU. Scottish, Reel. The melody appears in the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possession of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle), 1734, "A Collection of the best Highland Reels written by David Young, W.M. & Accomptant," and the Bodleian Manuscript (in the Bodleian Library, Oxford), inscribed "A Collection of the Newest Country Dances Performed in Scotland written at Edinburgh by D.A. Young, W.M. 1740."

 

WHAT PAIN I'VE ENDURED SINCE LAST YEAR (Gur mis hta gu crňiteach o'n uiridh). Scottish, Slow Air (9/8 time). E Minor. Standard tuning. AAB. "This air the editor never heard but from his father; if that gentleman was composer of any in this work, it is the present, although even that, the editor cannot assert. It was, at any rate, revived and preserved by him; nay, more, he repeated extempore words, which the editor never could get a second time, and was not at liberty to urge on a subject which affected him so much‑‑the fate of an amiable brother of his, who was one of the sufferers in the Black Hole at Calcutta" (Fraser). Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1874; No. 153, pg. 62.

X:1

T:What pain I’ve endured since last year

T:Gur mis tha gu crŕiteach o’n uiridh

M:9/8

L:1/8

R:Slow Air

S:Fraser Collection  (1874)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

(g/f/)|eBB B>AG F<D z/F/|[G,2E2]F (G>FG) [G2B2] (g/f/)|

eBB B>AG F<D z/F/|E>Fd B>AG [G,2E2]:|

B|Bee Bgg fdd|Bee Bgg f2A|Bee Bgg f>ed|e2 d/B/ B>^A/B/^d/ e2 (d/c/)|

Bee Bgg fdd|Bee Bgg f2A|B(ef) g>ag f>ed|e2 d/B/ B>^A/B/^d/ e2||

X:2

T:What Pain I've Endured

M:9/8

L:1/8

S:Old Blind Dogs

R:slip jig

K:G

|eBB BAG FDF|E2F GFG B2B|eBB BAG FDF|EFd BAF E2E:|Bee Bgg fed|Bee Bgg f2

e|1Bee Bgg fed|edB ABd e2e|2Bef g2g fed|edB ABd e2e|

 

WHAT SHALL HE HAVE THAT KILL'D THE DEER. English, Air (6/4 time). E Minor. Standard tuning. One part. The tune is a round, or catch, and was printed in John Hilton's Catch as Catches Can (1652). Shakespeare devotes a short scene in "As You Like It" (act IV, scene 2) entirely to the round, which presumably would be sung by the actors playing foresters. Kines (Songs From Shakespeare's Plays and Popular Songs of Shakespeare's Time), 1964; pg. 48.

 

WHAT SHALL I DO? AKA and see "High Caul Cap."

 

WHAT SHALL I DO IF HE LEAVES ME?  Irish, Slow Air (3/4 time). F Major. Standard tuning. One part. Source for notated version: Mrs. Sinclair, Cork (Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 662, pg. 332.

                       

WHAT SHALL I DO? MY LOVE IS GOING TO WED. Irish, Air (3/4 time). G Mixolydian. Standard tuning. AB. Source for notated version: Hugh O'Beirne, professional fiddler from Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, c. 1846 (Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 643, pg. 326.

                       

WHAT SHALL I DO TO SHOW HOW MUCH I LOVE HER? English, Air. The air is by the English composer Henry Purcell, from his "History of Dioclesian." It was also published by John Gay in his The Beggar's Opera (1729, where it appears as "Virgins are like the fair flower"), and in Pills to Purge Melancholy, Vol. IV. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 51.

                       

WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE BABY-O. See “Whatcha Gonna Do with the Baby?”

                       

WHAT SOUNDS CAN COMPARE. AKA and see "The Black Rogue [1]."

                       

WHAT THE DE'IL AILS YOU? [1]. Scottish, Air or Strathspey; English, Reel. England, Northumberland. A Minor. Standard tuning. AB (Cole): AAB (Gow): AABB (Bremner, Vickers). John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of the tune in print in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection. Bremner (Scots Reels), 1757; pg. 67. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 126. Gow (Complete Repository), Vol. 1, 1799, pg. 22. Oswald (Caledonian Pocket Companion), Vol. 2, c. 1780, pg. 89. Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 3; No. 484. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg. 164. Walsh (Caledonian Country Dances), Vol. 3, c. 1740, pg. 52. Maggie’s Music MMCD222, Bonnie Rideout – “Scottish Fire” (2000).

X:1

T:What the De’il ails you [1]