Annotation:Denis Don't be Threatening

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DENIS, DON'T BE THREATENING (Na bi ag gagar a doncad). AKA and see "A dhonnchadh na bi fogarthach," "Fairies' Dwelling (The)," "Dennis Don't be Flattering," "Nay Tell Me Not Dear." Irish, Air (6/8 time) or Jig. D Major (O'Neill): B Flat Major (Kerr): C Major (O'Flannagan). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (O'Neill): AABB (Kerr): AABBCAA (O'Flanagan). The melody, which is related to the jig "Is it the priest you want?," appears under the "Dennis..." title in the Irish collector Edward Bunting's 1796 General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music, vol. 1 (No. 20, p. 10) and 1809 (p. 41) collection. John Mullholland included it in his collection Ancient Irish Airs [1], published in Belfast in 1810, under the title "Dennis Don't be Flattering". According to Alfred Moffat (Irish Minstrelsy), "Denis, Don't be Threatening" is the progenitor of "Dandy O (The)". A version of the melody was used by Shield for a song in his Poor Soldier (1783), beginning: "Out of my sight, or I'll box your ears."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Clinton (Gems of Ireland: 200 Airs), 1841; No. 85, p. 43. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 4; No. 241, p. 26. Mulholland (Ancient Irish Airs), 1810. O'Flannagan (The Hibernia Collection), 1860; p. 3. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 431, p. 75.

Recorded sources:

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