Annotation:Sic a Wife as Willie had (1)

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X:1 T:Sic a Wife as Willie had [1] M:C L:1/8 R:Air N:”Old” B:Gow – Sixth Collection of Strathspey Reels (1822) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:F F2 FG (BA) GF|G2G2 _e2 dc|B2~B2 _e2 dc|B2 (_E2G2B2)| F2 FG (BA) (GF)|G2A2 f2 ed|~c2 dc TB2 cB|A2(F2A2c2):| |:f2fe f2c2|(fe) (fg) f2 cd|_e2 e2 {f}e2 dc|B2 (_E2G2B2)| F2 FG BA GF|G2A2 f2 ed|~c2 dc TB2 cB|A2 (F2A2c2):||

SIC A WIFE AS WILLIE HAD. Scottish, Air (whole time). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. “Old” says Gow. Poet Robert Burns wrote words for his song “Sic a Wife as Willie had”, with the burden:

Sic a wife as Willie had,
I wadna gie a button for her!

Burns composed the cutting verses in the kitchen of Crook Inn in the Scottish Borders in 1792. They lampooned the ugly wife of his close friend, weaver Willie Wastle, pointing out rather crudely all her blemishes and referring to her rotten teeth and how her chin and nose threatened each other.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : - Gow (Sixth Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1822; p. 31.

Recorded sources: -Culburnie Records CUL , Aladair Fraser, Muriel Johnstone & Natalie Haas – “Legacy of the Scottish Fiddle, vol. 2” ().

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