Annotation:I Have a Wife of My Own
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I HAVE A WIFE OF MY OWN (Ta Bean Agam Fem). AKA - "I Hae a Wife o' My Ain," "I Hae a Wife o' My Own." AKA and see "Beauteous Fair Molly," "Bless My Soul Why Shouldn't I?" “Boring with a Gimlet," "Boring with the Gimblet,” "Jack Won't Sell His Fiddle," "Ragged Lady," "Spatter the Mud,” “Wife of My Own (A).” English, Scottish, Irish; Slip Jig or Country Dance Tune. England, Northumberland. Ireland, County Cork. E Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody appears in the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possession of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle), inscribed "A Collection of Country Dances written for the use of his Grace the Duke of Perth by Dav. Young, 1734." The tune was included in Walsh's Caledonian Country Dances, book ii, and James Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion, book x. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection [1], while another early Scottish printing can be found in the 1768 (James) Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (as "I've Got a Wife of My Own"). “A Wife of My Own” appears in the 1770 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers, about whom unfortunately nothing is known. Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759–1796) wrote words to the melody that appear in Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, vol. 4 (1792, p. 364):
I Hae a wife of my ain,
I'll partake wi' naebody;
I'll take Cuckold frae nane,
I'll gie Cuckold to naebody.
I ha’e a penny tae spend,
There, thanks tae naebody,
I ha’e naething tae lend,
I’ll borrow frae naebody.
I am naebody’s lord,
I’ll be slave tae naebody;
I ha’e a guid broad sword,
I’ll tak’ dunts frae naebody,
I’ll be merry and free,
I’ll be sad for naebody,
If naebody cares for me,
I’ll care for naebody.
John Glen (Early Scottish Melodies, 1900) disdainfully remarked: "It is either not of early date, or being a dance tune to which some silly words were added, has received no attention" [i.e. from antiquarian researchers]. A tune by the name was popular in the early 18th century in Scotland and transported to the island of Whalsay in Shetland (Cooke). Martin (2002) prints the tune (along with “Brose and Butter” and “Drops of Brandy”) as a vehicle for the dance Strip the Willow.
Irish uilleann piper O’Farrell (c. 1806) gave the tune's provenance as Irish, although his is the only such assertion. See also County Leitrim fiddler Stephen Grier's (c. 1883) distanced version "My Wife's My Own," similar in the first strain.
Sources for notated versions: O'Neill, later in life, obtained this version of the tune from the manuscripts of Timothy Downing, a gentleman farmer of Tralibane, County Cork, who taught O'Neill the rudiments of the flute when the latter was a boy during the 1860's [O'Neill/Irish Folk Music]; William Vickers' music manuscript collection [2] (1770, Northumberland) [Seattle].
Printed sources: Bremner (Scots Reels), c. 1757; p. 45 [3]. Cotter (Traditional Irish Tin Whistle Tutor), 1989; 54. Gow (Complete Repository, Part 1), 1799; p. 16. Hall & Stafford (Charlton Memorial Tune Book), 1974; p. 5. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 2), c. 1880's; No. 315, p. 34. Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002; p. 46. O’Farrell (Pocket Companion, vol. II), c. 1806; p. 86. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 450, p. 88. Oswald (Caledonian Pocket Companion, Book 10), 1760; p. 4. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 129. Seattle (Great Northern/William Vickers).
Recorded sources: