Annotation:I'm Over Young to Marry Yet (1)
X:1 T:She’s o’er young to Marry yet T:I'm over Young to Marry yet [1] M:C| L:1/8 B:Thompson’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1 (London, 1757) Z:Transcribed and edited by Fynn Titford-Mock, 2007 Z:abc’s:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:C C|E G2 A cdec|cAGA dedD|E G2 A cdef|e/f/g de cCC:| |:g|ecgc efga|ecgc e d2g|ecgc efga|ecdB cCC:||
I'M OVER/OWRE YOUNG TO MARRY YET [1]. AKA - "Over Young to Marry," "She's o'er Young to Marry yet." AKA and see "Bonny Lad to Marry Me (A)." Scottish, Irish, English, American; Reel and Country Dance Tune. G Major (most versions): C Major (Bremner, Mackintosh, McGlashan, Thompson). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (most versions): AABB (Bremner, Thompson). Similar to "Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch," "Lady Frances Wemys' Reel," "Ruffian's Rant (The)," "Coig na Scalan," "Ben Nevis," "Old Virginia Reel (1)," "Kilt is My Delight (The)." John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of this tune in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection, although it also appears early in print in Neil Stewart's 1761 collection and, in London, in David Rutherford’s Complete Collection of 200 of the Most Celebrated Country Dances (1756), and the following year in Charles and Samuel Thompson’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1 (1757). Since publication dates of all these volumes are best-conjecture, the provenance remains speculative. The title comes from the Scots poet Robert Burns who reworked an older (and somewhat bawdy) song called "I'm o'er young to marry" to make it more acceptable. In Scotland “She’s Ower Young to Marry Yet” is also set as a strathspey strathspey as well as an air (e.g. Robert Burns). The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), published c. 1800, and it was included in the 1790 music manuscript copybook of London musician Thomas Hammersley.
The chorus goes of Burns's song goes:
I'm o'er young, I'm o'er young,
I'm o'er young to marry yet,
I'm o'er young, 'twad be a sin
To tak' me frae my mammie yet.
New York writer, researcher and musician Don Meade says the tune is "played as a fling in Ireland and is used as the air to many songs, including 'Limerick Races'". See also the related tunes "Were You at the Fair," "Pretty Lass (The)," "Donny Brook (1)."
