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Annotation:Behind the Bush in the Garden (1)
X:1 T:Behind the Bush in the Garden [1] M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Single Jig S:O'Neill - Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems (1907), No. 398 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Amin A/B/|c2A AGE|c2A AGE|G2G GAE|G3 E2B| c2d e2a|g2e d2e|c2A BAG|A3 A2:| |:A/B/|c2B c2d|efe e2d|c2B c2d|e3 G2G| [1 c2B c2d|efe e2d|cBA BAG|A3 A2:| [2 c2d e2a|g2e d2e|c2A BAG|A3 A2|]
BEHIND THE BUSH IN THE GARDEN [1] (Taob-iar de'n sgeac annsa gairdin). AKA and see "The Bargain is Over," "The Bush Below da Garden" (Shetland), "Fy Buckle Your Belt," "I Won't Do the Work" (Cape Breton), "I Sat in the Valley Green," "Kerry Jig (The)," "Laistiar den Tom sa Ghairdín," "More Power to Ye," "Over the River to Charlie (2)," "Royal Charlie," "Se'n Righ atha ahuin is fear linn" (We prefer our own King), "A' Sníubh Ullan na gCaoire" (Spinning the Wool of the Sheep), "The Tidy Woman," "Times are Mighty Hard," "We Have No King but Charley," Wha'll be King but Charlie?". Irish, Single or Double Jig (6/8 time). A Minor or C Mixolydian (S. Johnson, O'Neill, Songer, Treoir): D Minor (Stanford/Petrie). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (O'Neill/1915, Songer): ABB' (Stanford/Petrie): AABB (Carlin, S. Johnson, Sweet, Treoir): AABB' (O'Neill/Krassen, 1001 & 1850). The tune was recorded on a 78 RPM disk by biography:Packie Dolan in September, 1928, for Victor Records in New York, according to Paddy Ryan (Treoir), under the title "Royal Charlie/Charley." Dolan (1904-1932, was originally from Aughadowry, Ballinamuck, County Longford, and died tragically at age 28 one week before he was due to return to Ireland to live. Kerry musician Tom Billy Murphy (father of fiddlers Denis Murphy and Julia Clifford) used to play this slide, although it is not often heard in modern times. P.W. Joyce (1909) prints the tune as "Kerry Jig (The)." Seamus O'Sullivan was of the opinion that the tune was from a song called "A' Sníubh Ullan na gCaoire" (Spinning the Wool of the Sheep), that Paul de Grae feels straddles the boundary between jigs and slides, "or maybe just ignores it." A variant is published by Feldman & O'Doherty from the playing of Donegal fiddler Danny O'Donnell as "Bargain is Over (The)" (Tá do Mhargadh Déanta), and in County Down a version can be heard as "Who'll be King but Charlie." Breathnach (CRÉ III, 1985) prints a variant set as "Paddy Taylor's Fancy" while Lyth gives a variant as "Humors of Kilclogher." Ken Perlman (1979) believes it is melodically related to the old-time tune "Kitchen Girl" and to the Northumbrian jig "Elsie Marley." See also the variant "Back o' the Bush in the Garden" from Cumbrian fiddler John Rook (1840). O'Neill's alternate title, "Times Are Mighty Hard," is derived from the chorus of an 1875 Edward Harrigan song, "The Boulevard," set to this melody.
The title may have been derived from a version of a circulating rhyme or song, as collected by John Bell (1783-1864) of Newcastle:
Behind the bush, behind the bush,
behind the bush in the garden,
The maiden lost her maidenhead
For fourpence halfpenny farthing.