Annotation:Maggie in the Woods

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MAGGIE IN THE WOOD(S). AKA - "If I Had Maggie in the Woods," "Maggie in the Corner." AKA and see "bhFaca tú mo shéamaisín (An)" (Did You See My Seámaisín?)," "Mussels in the Corner," "Nancy Wants Her Own Share," "Well I know what Kitty wants." Irish, Polka (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Taylor): AABB (Mac Amhlaoibh & Durham, Morrison, O'Brien, Sweet): AABB' (Sullivan): AA'BB' (Tubridy). The melody appears earliest in print under the title "Nancy Wants Her Own Share" as a march in Arthur Darley and Francis McCall's Feis Ceoil Collection of Irish Airs (1914). The polka version of tune, first printed in O'Brien's Accordion Instructor (1949) was popularized in the mid-1950's by banjo player Margaret Barry and fiddler Michael Gorman, and again in the 1970's by the Chieftains. However, the earliest sound recording of the tune under the "Maggie in the Woods" title was by flute player Tom Morrison, who recorded it in 1925 (2nd tune of the medley "Maggie in the Woods"). Morrison re-recorded the set for Columbia records a few years later, in 1928.

There tune has been the vehicle for several sets of words, including:

If I had Maggie in the woods,
I'd do her all the good I could;
If I had Maggie in the woods
I'd keep her there till morning.

and:

If I had Maggie in the wood
I know she would, I know she could;
Nothing else would do her good
So early in the morning.

Caoimhin Mac Aoidh points out the Irish language song "Sheamisín" is also sung to the melody, and goes:

An bhfaca tú mo Shéamaisín?
Mo stóirín óg, mo bhuachaillín.
An bhfaca tú mo Shéamaisín?
Is é ‘gabháil síos an bóthar.

which translate as :

Did you see my Séámaisín?
My little darling, my litte boy,
Did you see my Séamaisín?
And he going down the road.

"Saint Patrick was a Gentleman" is another song set to the tune:

Saint Patrick was a gentleman, he came from decent people
In Dublin town he built a church and on it put a steeple
His father was a Gallagher, his mother was a Grady
His aunt was an O'Shaughnessy and his uncle was a Brady.

In addition to air, polka and march settings, the tune has been played as a single jig ("Hen and all Her Broth (The)") and a slide ("Echoes of Killarney", "Denis McMahon's Slide" and "Well I know what Kitty wants"). "Maggie in the Woods" is also used to accompany the 4th figure of the Connemara Reel set. The polka "Humors of Ballydesmond (The)" AKA "Knocknabower Polka (1)/Knocknaboul Polka (1)" is nearly identical in melodic contour in the first two strains.

"Mussels in the Corner" is the name under which Newfoundland musicians often play the tune, sometimes called a 'quintessential Newfoundland tune.' Evelyn Osborne^[1], writing in 2019, notes that up to that date it had been recorded at least sixty-one times by Newfoundland musicians. See also the Scottish march "Piper's Cave (1) (The)" for another version of the same melodic material.

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - set dance music recorded at Na Píobairí Uilleann, mid-1980's [Taylor].

Printed sources : - Mac Amhlaoibh & Durham (An Pota Stoir: Ceol Seite Corca Duibn/The Set Dance Music of West Kerry), No. 6, p. 14. James Morrison (How to Play the Globe Accordion Irish Style), 1931; No. 1, p. 18. O'Brien (Jerry O'Brien's Accordion Instructor), Boston, 1949. Sullivan (Session Tunes, vol. 2); No. 15, p. 7. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; p. 57. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Yellow Book), 1995; p. 34. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, vol. 1), 1999; p. 9.

Recorded sources : - Canadian Cavalcade CCLP 2012, Wilf Doyle and His Orchestra - "The Music of Newfoundland" (1973, as "Mussels in the Corner"). Columbia 251-D (78 RPM), Patrick Gaffney (1925). Columbia 33260-F (78 RPM), Tom Morrison (1928. 2nd tune in medley. Note also an early instance of the bodhran, played by John Reynolds and listed as a "tambourine"). Decca 12253 (78 RPM), The McNulty Family (1942, 2nd tune, following "I Have a Bonnet Trimmed with Blue"). New Republic 2332 (78 RPM), Tom Morrison (1925. 2nd tune in medley). Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40126, Two Fiddles - "Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire" (1999). Topic TSDL1502, Bernard O'Sullivan & Tommy McMahon - "Clare Concertinas" (originally recorded 1975). Shanneyganock - "Live on George Street" (2010, as "Mussels in the Corner").

See also listing at :
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]
Hear Tom Morrison's 1925 recording at the Internet Archive [3] (2nd tune in medley)
Hear Tom Morrison's 1928 recording at the Internet Archive [4]

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↑ Evelyn Osborne, "Change and Stability in Irish-American-Newfoundland fiddle tunes", OngCos go Cluas: From Dancing to Listening, The Ephinstone Institute, Univ. of Aberdeen, 2019, pp. 230-231.

[1] Evelyn Osborne, "Change and Stability in Irish-American-Newfoundland fiddle tunes", OngCos go Cluas: From Dancing to Listening, The Ephinstone Institute, Univ. of Aberdeen, 2019, pp. 230-231.

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