When Sick, Is It Tea You Want?

A forum about Uilleann (Irish) pipes and the surly people who play them.
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CorneliusG
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Tell us something.: I'm a new Uillean piper (5 years), but a GHB piper of several decades. I'm interested in this forum for the information I can gather on the UP. I work with a UP teacher, but he's the only one I know who plays and I can't be bothering him all the time. (That's not really me in the photo.)
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When Sick, Is It Tea You Want?

Post by CorneliusG »

I'm just learning the subject tune (find it delightful) but I am intrigued by its name or anything about its origin. Does anyone know?
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Re: When Sick, Is It Tea You Want?

Post by Mr.Gumby »

WHEN SICK IS IT TEA YOU WANT? [1] ("Ann Do Tinneas Ne Tea Ta Uait?" or "Tae ab' ea a Theastaionn is Tú Tinn?"). AKA and see: "Come from the Devil and Shake Yourself," "Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself (1)," "Irish Newsman (The)," "Is it Tea You Want?" (?), "One-Legged Man (1) (The)," "Penniless Traveller (The).” Irish, Double Jig. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (O'Neill, Songer, Taylor): AABB’ (Mallinson): AA'BB' (Breathnach). The melody appears in O’Neill under the titles “When Sick is it Tea You Want?” “Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself (1),” and “Penniless Traveller (The).” Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883) gives the tune as “Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself.” Breathnach finds the tune first printed about 1778 in a London country dance collection, after which it appears frequently in collections published in England throughout the rest of that century. Although the titles are similar, Petrie’s “When you are sick ‘tis tea you want” is a different tune. The origin of the title is obscure, but at least one circulating story has it that a piper came home one night after an evening spent in his favorite pub, playing and drinking far too much. The next morning he nursed a monumental hangover, and his wife, pitying him, offered to make him a cup of tea to soothe his condition. Far from appreciative, however, the piper growled, “When sick, is it tea you want?”

Sources for notated versions: piper Seamus Ennis (Ireland) [Breathnach]; Maire O’Keeffe (Tralee, County Kerry) via Fran Slefer (Limerick/Dublin/Portland, Oregon) [Songer]; set dance music recorded live at Na Píobairí Uilleann, mid-1980’s [Taylor].

Printed sources: Breathnach (CRÉ III), 1985; No. 27, p. 13. Mallinson (100 Enduring), 1995; No. 28, p. 12. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 18. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 714, p. 133. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 16, p. 19. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 81. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 209. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Yellow Book), 1995; p. 21.
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CorneliusG
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Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2017 12:58 pm
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Tell us something.: I'm a new Uillean piper (5 years), but a GHB piper of several decades. I'm interested in this forum for the information I can gather on the UP. I work with a UP teacher, but he's the only one I know who plays and I can't be bothering him all the time. (That's not really me in the photo.)
Location: North America

Re: When Sick, Is It Tea You Want?

Post by CorneliusG »

Thank you! That's a wonderful site you've linked to, I shall bookmark it for future reference. thanks again!
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Mr.Gumby
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Re: When Sick, Is It Tea You Want?

Post by Mr.Gumby »

That's a wonderful site you've linked to
It's a continuation of the old Fiddler's Companion in Wiki form
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