Annotation:I'd rather be married than left
X:1 T:I'd rather be married than left M:12/8 L:1/8 R:slide D:The Smoky Chimney, track 1(a) K:D ABA AFA d2 D D2 F|ABA AFA B2 E E2 F| ABA AFA B2 g f2 e|1 dcB ABc d2 D D2 F:|2 dcB ABc d2 D D2 e|| ~f3 def e2 A A2 e|fef def gfg e2 g|fef g3 fef a2 f| |1gfe ABc d2 D D2 e:|2gfe ABc d2 D D3||
I'D RATHER BE MARRIED THAN LEFT (B'Fhearr liom a bheith Pósta ná Tréigthe). AKA and see "Macks (The)." Irish, Slide (12/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. The melody was recorded by Seamus Ennis in January, 1949, from the fiddle playing of Kerry musicians Pádraig O'Keeffe and Denis Murphy (O'Keeffe's pupil). Alice C. B Bunten, in an article entitled "Irish Songs in the Beggar's Opera" (Journal of the Irish Folk Society, vol. 5, p. 19), identifies the tune as a derivative of the English song "Would you Court a Young Virgin of Sixteen Years" (Would You have a Young Virgin) in Gay's 1728 work. She states: "In Charles II's reign [1660-1685] Tom D'Urfey wrote the words of 'Would you Court' &c. for his play Modern Prophets, and used this tune, which was an old one, for it." The tune has a long pedigree-see note for "Would You have a Young Virgin" See also "Native (La)" in the "Lancer's Quadrilles."
