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If I Had A Wife slide

Also known as Art O’Keefe’s, The Humours Of Mount Collins, The Humours Of Mountcollins, I’ll Paddle Me Own Canoe, I’ll Paddle My Own Canoe, Mad Dancing, Neilí Ní Mhathúna, Paddle My Own Canoe.

There are 18 recordings of this tune.

This tune has been recorded together with

If I Had A Wife appears in 2 other tune collections.

If I Had A Wife has been added to 6 tune sets.

If I Had A Wife has been added to 74 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Four settings

1
X: 1
T: If I Had A Wife
R: slide
M: 12/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
B2A ABd e2d d2B|AGA B2A G2D D2A|
B2A ABd e2d d2B|1 AGA B2A G3 G2A:|2 AGA B2A G3 gfe||
|:d2g gfg age dBd|e2a aba g2a bge|
d2g gfg age dBd|1 efg aba g3 gfe:|2 efg aba g3 G2A||
2
X: 2
T: If I Had A Wife
R: slide
M: 12/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
B2A ABd e2d d2B|AGA B2A G2D D2A|
B2A ABd e2d d2B|1 AGA B2A G3 G2A:|2 AGA B2A G3 G2B||
|:d2g gfg age d3|e2a aba g3 b3|
d2g gfg age d3|1 eaa aba g3 g2 e:|2 eaa aba g3 G2A||
3
X: 3
T: If I Had A Wife
R: slide
M: 12/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
|:B3 ABd e2 d d2 B|AGA B2 A G2 D D3|
B2 A ABd e2 d d2 B|1 AGA B2 A G3 G2 A:|2 AGA B2 A G3 B2 A||
|:d2 g g3 age d2 B|dgg gba g3 b2 g|
d2 g gfg age d2 d|1 dgg gba g3 b2 g:|2 dgg gba g3 ged||
4
X: 4
T: If I Had A Wife
R: slide
M: 12/8
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
"G"B2"g"A AB"g"d e2"g"d d2"g"B|AG"g"A B2"g"A "C"G2D "D"D2"d"A|
"G"B2"g"A AB"g"d e2"g"d d2"g"B|1 "D"AG"d"A B2"d"A "G"(G2"g"G) G2"D"A:|2 "D"AG"d"A B2"d"A "G"(G2"g"G) G2e||
|:"G"d2"g"g gf"g"g ag"g"e dB"g"d|"C"e2a aba g2a "D"bg"d"e|
"G"d2"g"g gf"g"g ag"g"e dB"g"d|1 "C"ef"c"g "D"ab"d"a "G"(g2"g"g) g2e:|2 "C"efg "D"ab"d"a "G"(g2"g"g) g2A||

Nine comments

I just couldn’t believe this wasn’t already here, but I’ve tried three keys and several takes on bar one, but nope, so far, no sign of a duplication… How did we miss this lovely little number? What other treasure is there for us to add here?

Paddle my own canoe

Its also on Chieftains 6 as a song (they learnt it from Dennis Murphy).

If I had a wife, the plague of my life,
I’ll tell you what I would do,
I’d buy her a boat and set her afloat
and paddle my own canoe.

I read elsewhere it is also called the Humours of Mount Collins

Chieftains 6 and If I Had a Wife

This slide and the song end the Chieftains 6 album, which is called Bonaparte’s Retreat, and is a retrospective of the Irish connections to Thomas Paine, the French Revolution and the tradition of nationalism that makes Ireland more similar to France than to England. The words to the song can be taken as a metaphor for the divorce of the Irish revolution from England.

If I Had A Wife

X:2 from Padraig O’Keefe and Denis Murphy.

~ the 1st ‘slide’ of two 😏

If I Had A Wife, X:4

From Jack Talty · Cormac Begley - Na Fir Bolg

Arranged for B/C Box with only Push C bass and chord buttons.

Chord markings: Upper Case = Bass button / Lower Case = Chord button