Annotation:Down with the Tithes (2)

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 DOWN WITH THE TITHES [2]. AKA and see "The Widow Well Married." Irish, Jig. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Written from memory. I find a copy also in a very old MS." (Joyce). The tithes were a much-hated system supporting the Protestant Church of Ireland, through the mid-19th century. All landed members of a parish, regardless of denomination or religious affiliation, were assessed tithes for the maintenance of the church, generally a tenth of their output. The tithes gave rise to agrarian revolt in the early 19th century, sometimes taking the form of societies or gangs such as the Whiteboys, an organized resistance to the system.  Source for notated version:  Printed sources: Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 28, p. 17.  Recorded sources:

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