Annotation:Wha'll be King but Charlie
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WHA'LL (Who'll) BE KING BUT CHARLIE (Se ‘n Righ a th’ again is fhèarr leinn AKA and see "Behind the Bush in the Garden (1)," “Come Together,” "Fy Buckle Your Belt," "Cha Dean Mi'n Obair," "I Won't Do the Work" (Jig), "I Sat in the Valley Green," "More Power to Ye," "Over the River 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 (6/8 time). C Major (Carlin, Fraser, Martin): D Major (Kerr). Standard tuning (fiddle). 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 “Tidy Woman (The).” John Rook, a multi-instrumentalist from Waverton, Cumbria, entered it into his 1840 music manuscript collection (p. 118), as did American musician M.E. Ames into his 1850 music copybook (p. 75).
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; No. 158, p. 94. Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles), 1816; No. 136, p. 55. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; p. 44. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; p. 136. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1880; No. 20, p. 32. Manson (Hamilton's Universal Tunes Book vol. 1), 1854; p. 119. Manson (Hamilton’s Universal Tune Book vol. 1), 1853; p. 170. Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002; p. 25.
Recorded sources: Green Linnet SIF 1070, Silly Wizard "A Glint of Silver" (1986). Redwing Music RWMCD 5410, Abby Newton – “Castles, Kirks and Caves” (2001).
See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]