Annotation:I Have a Bonnet Trimmed with Blue (1)
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I HAVE A BONNET TRIMMED WITH BLUE [1] (Tá Boinéad Agam). AKA – “I Have a Bonnet.” AKA and see "Alex Dice," "Bonnet Trimmed in Blue," “Din Tarrant’s (1),” "Esler's Cracovienne," “I have a donkey he wouldn’t go,” “Jacket Trimmed in Blue,” "Krakovienne" (Boehme), “Tá Boinéad agam,” “Tarrant’s,” "Walk Jawbone.” Irish, American; Polka. USA, eastern Mass. G Major (Bayard, Breathnach, Harker/Rafferty, Mallinson): D Major (Tubridy): A Major (Mallinson). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Bayard): AABB (most versions). Originally a Continental dance and tune called the Cracovienne, widely disseminated, although the title here is Scottish. See also “Polish Polka (The)” (from the Sussex Manuscripts) and “Liberton Pipe Band” for closely related tunes. The title for the polka comes from the ditty sung, often by children, to the tune, which goes:
I have a bonnet trimmed with blue.
“Do you wear it?” Yes I do!
“When do you wear it?” When I can.
Going to the ball with my young man.
or:
I have a bonnet trimmed with blue
"Do you wear it? " Yes I do.
I always wear it when I can,
Going down the street with my young man.
My young man has gone to sea
When he comes home he'll marry me
Tip to the heel and tip to the toe
That's the way the pokie [polka] goes
This version appears in The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin, edited by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín:
I have a bonnet trimmed with blue;
Why don't you wear it? So I do. (repeat both lines)
I will wear it when I can;
When I'll go away with my fair-haired man.
Open the window, do love, do!
Listen to the music playing for you!
Finally, the following version appears in Iona & Peter Opie's book, The Singing Game:
'I have a bonnet trimmed with blue.'
'Why don't you wear it?' 'So I do.'
'When do you wear it?' 'When I can -
When I go out with my young man.
My young man's away at sea,
When he comes back he'll marry me;
Buy me a biscuit, buy a tart,
What do you think of my sweetheart?'
Sources for notated versions: Mrs. Anastasia Corkery (Cambridge, Mass., 1930's; originally from Co. Cork, Ireland) [Bayard]; whistle, flute and concertina player Michael Tubridy (Ireland) [Breathnach]; set dance music recorded at Na Píobairí Uilleann, late 1980’s [Taylor]; New Jersey flute player Mike Rafferty, born in Ballinakill, Co. Galway, in 1926 [Harker].
Printed sources: Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; Appendix No. 30, p. 584. Breathnach (CRÉ III), 1985; No. 68, p. 35. Harker (300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty), 2005; No. 281, p. 91. Mallinson (100 Irish Polkas), 1997; No. 29, p. 12 & No. 60 , p. 23. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Blue Book); 1995; p. 22. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two), 1999; p. 6.
Recorded sources: Claddagh Records CC27, Michael Tubridy "The Eagle's Whistle" (1978). Larraga Records MOR 1302, Mike Rafferty – “Speed 78” (2004).
See also listings at:
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources []
Alan Ng’s Irishtune.info []