Annotation:Maggie in the Woods

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MAGGIE IN THE WOOD(S). AKA - "If I Had Maggie in the Woods," "Maggie in the Corner." AKA and see "bhFaca tú mo shéamaisín (An)" (Did You See My Seámaisín?)," "Nancy Wants Her Own Share," "Well I know what Kitty wants]]." Irish, Polka. Ireland, West Kerry. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Taylor): AABB (Mac Amhlaoibh & Durham, Sweet): AABB' (Sullivan): AA'BB' (Tubridy). The melody appears earliest in print under the title "Nancy Wants Her Own Share" as a march in Arthur Darley and Francis McCall's Feis Ceoil Collection of Irish Airs (1914). The polka version of tune, first printed in O'Brien's Accordion Instructor (1949) was popularized in the mid-1950's by banjo player Margaret Barry and fiddler Michael Gorman, and again in the 1970's by the Chieftains. However, the earliest sound recording of the tune under the "Maggie in the Woods" title was by flute player Tom Morrison, who recorded it in 1925 (2nd tune of the medley "Maggie in the Woods"). Morrison re-recorded the set for Columbia records a few years later, in 1928.

Words set to the tune go variously:

If I had Maggie in the woods,
I'd do her all the good I could;
If I had Maggie in the woods
I'd keep her there till morning.

and:

If I had Maggie in the wood
I know she would, I know she could;
Nothing else would do her good
So early in the morning.

In addition to polka and march settings, the tune has been played as a single jig ("Hen and all Her Broth (The)") and a slide ("Echoes of Killarney" & "Well I know what Kitty wants").

Source for notated version: set dance music recorded at Na Píobairí Uilleann, mid-1980's [Taylor].

Printed sources: Mac Amhlaoibh & Durham (An Pota Stoir: Ceol Seite Corca Duibn/The Set Dance Music of West Kerry), No. 6, p. 14. O'Brien (Jerry O'Brien's Accordion Instructor), 1949. Sullivan (Session Tunes), vol. 2; No. 15, p. 7. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; p. 57. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Yellow Book), 1995; p. 34. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, vol. 1), 1999; p. 9.

Recorded sources: Columbia 33260-F (78 RPM), Tom Morrison (1928. 2nd tune in medley. Note also an early instance of the bodhran, played by John Reynolds and listed as a "tambourine"). New Republic 2332 (78 RPM), Tom Morrison (1925. 2nd tune in medley). Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40126, Two Fiddles - "Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire" (1999).

See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]
Hear Tom Morrison's 1925 recording at the Internet Archive [3] (2nd tune in medley)
Hear Tom Morrison's 1928 recording at the Internet Archive [4]

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