Annotation:Táim i n-Arréars
X:1 T:Táim i n-Arréars S:{\it Amhr\'ain na nGleann,} p. 53 Z:Jerome Colburn M:3/4 L:1/8 K:G A2 | B2 e2 e2 | e2 d2 B2 | d2 B2 A2 | B2 e2 e2 | e2 d2 B2 | d2 z2 e2 | f2 e2 e2 | e2 f2 e2 | d2 B2 A2 | B2 B2 B2 | A2 F2 F2 | E2 z2 F2 | F2 E2 E2 | E2 z2 FE | D2 z2 E2 | F2 E2 E2 | E2 F2 A2 | B2 z2 B2 | B2 A2 F2 | E2 B2 E2 | D2 z2 EE | F2 B2 B2 | A2 F2 E2 | E2 z2 :|**
TÁ IM I N-ARRÉARS. AKA - "Tá im in arré éir dtigh an óil." AKA and see "Girls take care how you marry," "Jockey has gotten a wife," "McDonnell's Rant," "Moll Roe (3)," "Noggin of Cream (The)," "Tiggit along the Room," "Silly Old Man (The)," “Seanduine Coileáilte (An),” "Swaggering Jig (1)," "Welcome the Piper." Irish, Air (3/4 time). This song is a variant of "Tá mé i n-éagmais ach íocfadh mé fós" (I'm in debt but I'll pay them yet), printed by collector Edward Bunting in 1840, and is also is a variant of “Seanduine Coileáilte (An).” It appears in Hannagan's Londubh an Chairn (No. 56) and Costello's Amhrain Muighe Sheola, and the words are also in O'Daly's Miscellany. One other version, a song by John Murphy, appears in the journal Ceol (volume 2, No. 4, p. 105), where it is stated "Moll Roe (3)" is a common name for the tune, according to Breathnach. Several songs using the melody exist: Finghin na Meamhna, in his 1939 work Amhráin na nGleann (Songs of the Glen), gives sixty-four verses of “Taim in Arrears,” attributed to poet Uileog Ó Céirí who lived in the vicinity of Castleisland in the 19th century. It is set to the tune of “Siúd ort, a mháthair mo chéile” (‘Here’s to you, mother-in-law’) {see Stanford/Petrie, No. 1460 & 1486}. Most modern players know the modern tune for the song as the slip jig “Swaggering Jig (1) (The).” Tim Dennehy recorded a County Clare version in English on his CD “Farewell to Milltown Malbay.” The chorus goes:
Mar atáimse 'n arréars, in arréars
Táimse in arréars i dtigh an óil,
Táimse 'n arréars, in arréars
Is ní fada go mairfeadsa beo.
Brendan Breathnach (1983) found a version of the tune in a manuscript from West Cork under the title "Tá im in arré éir dtigh an óil," but cautioned there are two other melodies to which "Táim i n-Arréars" is also sung.
