Annotation:I Won't Do the Work

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 I WON'T DO THE WORK (Cha Dean Mi'n Obair). AKA "Behind the Bush in the Garden [1]." Canadian, Double Jig. Canada; Cape Breton, Newfoundland. A Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Variants appear in the Simon Fraser collection (1816) and Kerr’s Merry Melodies, vol. 1 (c. 1875), under the title "Wha'll (Who’ll) Be King But Charlie” (Se ‘n Righ a th’againn is Fearr Leinn). Dunlay & Greenberg remark that on Newfoundland the tune is played with a simpler rhythm as a fast single jig. Port-a-beul verses to the tune are given by Cape Breton fiddler Jackie Dunn in her 1991 thesis "Tha Blas na Gaidhlig air a h-Uile Fidhleir" (The Sound of Gaelic is in the Fiddler’s Music): Cha dean mi obair, cha dean mi obair, Chan urrainn mi obair a dheanamh. Chan ith mi biadh ‘s chan ol mi deoch, Tha an gaol an deighinn mo lionadh (I cannot work, I cannot work, I am unable to work. I cannot eat or drink; Love has so consumed me.) Dunlay & Greenberg print the Beaton version of these lyrics from Lorrie MacKinnon: Cha dean mi ‘n obair, cha dean mi ‘n obair, Chan urrainn dhomg obair a dheanamh. Chan ol mi deoch, ‘s chan ith’ mi biadh, Chan urrainn dhomh obair a dheanamh.  Source for notated version: Donald Angus Beaton (Mabou, Cape Breton) [Dunlay & Greenberg, Dunlay & Reich].  Printed sources: Dunlay & Greenberg (Traditional Celtic Violin Music of Cape Breton), 1996; p. 110. Dunlay & Reich (Traditional Celtic Fiddle Music of Cape Breton), 1986; p. 71.  Recorded sources: ACC-49398, Brenda Stubbert - “House Sessions” (1992). DAB4 1985, Donald Angus Beaton "A Musical Legacy" (1985). JAD-1, Jackie Dunn - “Dunn to a T” (1995). Rounder Records 7057, Jerry Holland – “Parlor Music” (2005).  See also listing at: Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings index.

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