The Fiddler’s
Companion
© 1996-2008 Andrew Kuntz
_______________________________
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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 (
***
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
***
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.
***
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
***
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
***
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
***
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
X:1
T:Whack
at the Whigs, A
M:9/8
L:1/8
R:Slip
Jig
S:O’Neill
– Dance Music of
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.
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
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
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 |
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
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
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
F:posted to
Tradtunes
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
X:1
T:What
Ails You?
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:Single
Jig
S:O’Neill
– Dance Music of
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,
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
X:1
T:What Call Have You to Me Ned
M:6/8
L:1/8
R:Jig
S:Levey – Dance
Music of
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
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
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.
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 (
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
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,
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.
X:1
T:What
the De’il ails you [1]