Annotation:Contentment is Wealth (1)
X:1 T:Contentment is Wealth [1] M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig S:O'Neill - Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 28 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Amin A/B/ | c>BA A<ag | e>^de A2c | B>AG Gge | d>cB/A/ G2 a/b/ | c'ba gba | edB g2e | dBG GAB | cAA A2 :| |: c/d/ |ecA Acd | e^de A2 B/c/ | dBG GBc | d^cd G2 c/d/ | ecA Acd | eag e2d | edc Bcd | cAA A2 :| |: e/d/ | cea cea | cAA A2 d/c/ | Bdg Bdg | BGG G2 e/d/ | cBA a^ga | bag a2d | edc Bcd | cAA A2 :||
CONTENTMENT IS WEALTH [1] ("Is Ionmus an Sagarlacd" or "Is Saidbreas an Sastacd). AKA and see "Golden Keyboard (2)." Irish, Double Jig. A Dorian (O'Neill): E Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC. "Contentment is Wealth" is a title applied to several jigs that share the first strain; second strains differ. Samuel Bayard identified this tune as an offshoot of the old jig "Lumps of Pudding (2)/Lumps of Puddings (2)." As to the title, the Scots national poet Robert Burns wrote a song to the air called "Contented Wi' Little," which expresses a similar sentiment, although the title is probably taken from an old adage. Bruce Olson believes it may have derived from a line in the second verso of the song "(Come) haste to the wedding (ye friends and ye neighbors)," which goes:
We boast of no wealth but contentment and health,
The melody has been a favorite jig at Irish sessions in New York (where it is played in E Minor) and was recorded by fiddler Hugh Gillespie in the 1930's.
