My Wife’s A Wanton Wee Thing jig

Transcribed from the playing of the Battlefield Band.

This is a very old (and very good) Borders pipe tune. It is in the Dixon manuscript from the middle of the eighteenth century. Of course, border tunes this old were themes with variations. Dixon’s go onto two fullsides of A4.You only get the merest hint of this in the version posted
Noel
Angels of the North

Where can I find the Dixon version?

Let’s not forget the song and Robbie Burns, on the tune’s earlier title “My Wife’s a Winsome Wee Thing”:

My wife’s a wanton, wee thing,
My wife’s a wanton, wee thing,
My wife’s a wanton, wee thing,
She winna be guided by me.

She play’d the loon or she was married,
She play’d the loon or she was married,
She glar’d the loon or she was married,
She’ll do it again or she die.

She sell’d her coat and she drank it,
She sell’d her coat and she drank it,
She row’d hersell in a blanket,
She winna be guided for me.

She mind’t na when I forbade her,
She mind’t na when I forbade her,
I took a rung and I claw’d her,
And a braw gude bairn was she.

Some also sing the first as a repeating chorus:

My wife’s a wanton wee thing,
My wife’s a wanton wee thing,
My wife’s a wanton wee thing,
She winna be guided by me.

Chorus:
She is a winsome wee thing,
She is a handsome wee thing,
She is a lo’esome wee thing,
This sweet wee wife o’ mine!

I never saw a fairer,
I never lo’ed a dearer,
And neist my heart I’ll wear her,
For fear my jewel tine.

The warld’s wrack, we share o’t;
The warstle and the care o’t,
Wi’ her I’ll blythely bear it,
And think my lot divine.

“Brenda Stubbert’s Collection of Fiddle Tunes”
Edited by Paul Stewart Cranford
Cranford Publications, 1994
ISBN: 0-9691181-4-7

Page 44: “My Wife’s a Wanton Wee Thing”
32 bar jig in G Mixolydian ~ and a damned nice dance tune…

“Traditional Dance Music of Britain and Ireland:
The Fiddler’s Tune-Book”
Edited by Peter Kennedy
Mallinson Publications, 1994
ISBN: 1-899512-14-4

Page 49, Tune #194: “My Wife’s a Wanton Wee Thing”
32 bars again, though three parts, in D Mixolydian…

Key signature: Amajor
Submitted on August 29th 2003 by dafydd.
https://thesession.org/tunes/2775

I know a somewhat different version of this, but I have two questions about the notation. First, should the C in the 7th measure of the B part be C-natural? Second, & somewhat related: why notate this as in D major, when it seems to me it’s pretty clearly in D Mixolydian (& so should have the same key signature as G major, one sharp). (There’d still be a C# accidental in the fourth measure of the A part, of course.)

(I hasten to add that the version I know is also notated as in D major, with every C in the tune having an accidental on it.)

davecat, please give us a notation of how you play it and see it. Dafydd, who submitted this, has good intentions but may not be back here to check things out for years… 😉 And then he might not correct the ABCs, which are all that can be corrected once it goes to dots…

X: 2
T: My Wife’s a Wanton Wee Thing
B: Stewart-Robertson: The Athole Collection, 1884
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: DMix
|: f/d/|\
d2 A dfe | d3 A2 B | cdc cGE | c3 E2^c |
d2 A dfe | d3 A2 G | FDF ECE | D3 D2 :|
F/G/ |\
ABA FDF | A3 c3 | GcG ECE | G3 B3 |
AdA FDF | A3 g3 | fdf ece | d3 D2 F/G/ |
ABA FDF | AdA FDF | GAG ECE | GcG ECE |
ABA FDF | AFA aeg | fga gfe | d3 D2 ||
|: f/g/ |\
d2 g faf | d3 A2 B | cdc cGE | c3 E2^c |
d2 A dfe | d3 A2 G | FDF ECE | D3 D2 :|
f/g/ |\
aba fdf | a3 g2 f | gag ece | g3 efg |
aba fdf | a3 g2 f/g/ | fdf ece | d3 D2 f/g/ |
aba fdf | aba fdf | gag ece | gag ece |
aba fdf | aba gab | fga gfe | d3 D2 |]

The version I know is somewhat different, as I said, but not enough so that I thought it worth posting an alternative. But I’ll do so below. I’m guessing that the missing accidental I was asking about was just a transcription error. I was asking about why it was notated in D major, with all those accidentals, because I see tunes (not just this one) done that way sometimes. (Both all the C-naturals & the chord progression certainly indicate D Mix.)

The version I know is from a book of tunes collected & arranged for Scottish country dancing, Susie Petrov Her Book of Musick. I’ll post the ABCs (as entered by me from that) in a moment.

X:2
T:My Wife’s a Wanton Wee Thing
M:6/8
L:1/8
S:Susie Petrov Her Book of Musick, p. 16
K:D
f/e/ | \
“D” d2A dfe | “D” d3 A2B | “C” =cdc cGE | “C” =c3 c2^c | !
“D” d2A dfe | “D” d3 A2G | “D” FDF “C” E=CE | “D” D3 D2 :| !
%
F/G/ | \
“D” ABA FDF | “D” A3 =c3 | “C” GAG E=CE | “C” G3 B3 | !
“D” ABA FDF | “D” A3 G3 | “D” FDF “C” E=CE | “D” D3 DFG | !
“D” ABA FDF | “D” AdA FDF | “C” GAG E=CE | “C” G=cG EFG | !
“D” ABA FDF | “D” A3 a2 g | “D” fdf “C” e=ce | “D” d3 d2 |]

X: 4
T: My Wife’s a Wanton Wee Thing
B: “Kerr’s Second Collection of Merry Melodies”, 1880, page 35, tune #318
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: DMix
|: f/e/ |\
d2 A dfe | d3 A2 B | cdc cGE | =c3 E2 ^c |
d2 A dfe | d3 A2 G | FDF ECE | D3- D2 :|
F/G/ |\
ABA FDF | A3 {B}c3 | GcG ECE | {F}G3 B3 |
AdA FDF | A3 {f}g3 | fdf e^ce | d3- d2 F/G/ |
ABA FDF | AdA FDF | GAG ECE | GcG ECE |
ABA FDF | ABA a2 g | fdf e^ce | d3- d2 |]

Note: As with most of these early collections they tend to notate this with two sharps, F# & C#, or D Major, and then they have most of the Cs naturalized, =c or =C. Instead I have given the key signature as D Mixolydian and sharpened the rare C that is c#… Though the last couple of bars in Kerr, with the e^ce, has it ending as DMajor… It could also end with that c as natural ~ | fdf e=ce | d3- d2 |] ~ finishing D Mixolydian…

( Correction ~ obvious, AthKerr in the above heading should have read just ‘Kerr, 1880’ 😏 )

X: 40
T: My wife’s a wanton wee thing
B: Winder collection
A: Wyresdale, Lancashire
O: England
L: 1/8
M: 6/8
K: DMix
|: A |\
dAd efe | d3 A2 B | cdc cAF | c3 A2 F |
dAd efe | d3 a2 g | faf ece | d3 d2 :|
|: e |\
fgf dAd | f3 a2 f | efe cAc | e3 g2 e |
fgf dAd | f3 a2 g | fdf ece | d3 d2 :|

Sorry, an opening bit got cut off to the above ~

Courtesy of Richard Robinson’s site, as someone was asking for this ~
Richard Robinson’s Tunebook
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/tunebook.html
The page for this specific transcription, given in G, could not be found…

List of Tunes
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/listings.html

The Winder Manuscript
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/listings.html#winder

The Winder Manuscript ~ leftovers
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/Winder_leftovers/Winder_leftovers.name.html

“My Wife’s a Wanton Wee Thing” ~ page not found ~ sourced previously…

A setting in A, which came to me through Tom Lockney from Minnesota, who got it from Devin Shepherd, who got it from a cassette tape of various musicians from a friend in Chicago.