Annotation:Ditherum Doodle
X:1 T:Ditherum Doodle M:9/8 L:1/8 R:Air Q:"Allegretto" B:Mulhollan - Selection of Irish and Scots Tunes (Edinburgh, 1804, p. 6) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D A|ddd efd cBA|ddd ecA A2!fermata!g|fed efd cBA|BGB AFD D2:| |:D|ccc !fermata!A2A Bdc|BcB AGF E2E|AAA !fermata!B2c Bdc|dcB AFA D2:|
DITHERUM DOODLE. AKA and see "Moll Roe (1)." Irish, Air and Slip Jig (9/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody is but one version or variant of a large air and slip jig family of Irish tunes, for which see note to "Moll Roe (1)" for more. The "Ditherum Doodle" title for the tune comes from its use as the vehicle for the song "Though late I was plump," in which 'ditherum doodle' starts off the burden or chorus. The lyric was printed in The Encyclopedia of Comic Songs (1820, p. 500):
Though late I was plump, round, and jolly,
I now am as thin as a rod;
Oh, love is the cause of my folly,
And soon I'll lie under a sod.
Sing ditherum doodle, nagety, nagety, tragety rum,
And goosetherum, foodle, fidgety, fidgety, nigety mum.
