MAID  IN  THE  GARRETT

Traditional Irish
Button Accordion Notation
Beats per bar = 2
Beat symbol =  Two dots  ( : )  or equivalent

Verse 1 of 5:
Either row:  Buttons 4 - 8
  .7     .7*  | .6    .5      .4      .4* |   :5  
Now  I've    of - ten  heard    it     said  / 

  .4     .4*  |  .5   .5    .5     .5   |   .5*   :5
From  me      fa-ther and  me     mo - ther, /

  .6   |   "7*  ;7*  .7*  .7   |   "7*     ;6    
That     go - in'   to    a      wed - din'   

.6   .7*   |  .7     .6    .6   .6   |  :5*   :5  |
Is   the     ma - kin'  of   an  -  oth - er  /

  .7    .7   .8*  .8    |   :8*      
Well,  if  this  be      true,  / 

  .7      .7*  |   ;6     "6    .7*  .7  |   "5*    ;5
Then   I'll      go   with-out    a      bid - din, /

.4 .4*  |    :5      ;5     "5*   |   :5           
Oh_       kind  prov  -  i   -   dence,  / 

  .4       .4*  |    .5     .5*   .5  .4*   |   .4     .5
Won't  you    send  me   to   a        wed-din' ? /

Refrain:

  .4   .4*   |  :5    :5*   |   ::5     |    :7      .8*   .8   |  :8*
And  its      Oh  dear     me,  /    how would  it       be  /

.7   .8* |  :8   .7   .6   |   :5        .6*  .6    |  ::7*  |  ::6~ | ~:
 If    I      die  an  old   maid  /   in  the      gar  -  rett____?   /

youTube VIDEOS

Ten videos in keys of:    A=1    C=1    D=1    F=1    F#=1    G=5
Key:  G
​
Tempo:  ~120 bpm

Performers:  Clancy Brothers &
                     Tommy Makem

Posted by:   Vito Likavec
Key:   G  
​
Tempo: ~130 bpm.

Group:  Shanneyganock

Posted by:  Shanneyganock

Live at Delta, St. John's, NL
Key of A
​
Tempo ~125 bpm.

Performers:  Masterless Men

​Posted by:   NLTreasure
Key:   D

Tempo:  ~125 bpm

Group:  Whiskey and Pie

​Posted by:  Whiskey and Pie
Key:  C

Tempo:  ~110 bpm.

Performer:  Hector Awol
                    of Australia

​Posted by:  Hector Awol
Key:   G  from time 0 to 1:02

​Tempo:  ~150 bpm (very fast)

Instrumental:  Baccalieu Rovers

​Posted by:  Gerard Broderick

This is followed at time 1:03 by the reel "Cock of the North", known in NL as "Auntie Mary".
Key:   G
​
Tempo: ~1250 bpm

Group:  Sweeney's Men

Posted by:  Mick Connell

Sweeney's Men:  Andy Irvine, Johnny Moynihan and Terry Woods play the first Sweeney's single at Andy's birthday bash on 16th June 2012, Vicar Street (Dublin)
Key:  G
​
Tempo:  ~120 bpm

Group:  Sláinte 

Posted by:  
​
Slainte is a six-piece band (Bert, Denis, Doug, Curt, Greg & Carl) centered in Clarenville. (According to the boys, "sláinte" is a Gaelic greeting, like "cheers".)
Key:   F  (Time 0 to 2:53)
​
Tempo:  ~110 bpm

Singers:  Maddy Prior & Gay Woods

This video contains the "Maid in the Garrett" song as well as the reel "Tam Lin", starting at time 2:54..

​
Key:   F#

Tempo:  ~105 bpm

​Singer:  Rosemary (Brown) Scallon
             (aka DANA)

​Posted by:  Friends of DANA
BACKGROUND LYRICS, INFO AND LINKS

Lyrics: 

Verse 1




Refrain


Verse 2




Verse 3




Verse 4




Verse 5
Now I've often heard it said from me father and me mother
That the going tae a wedding is the making of another
Well, if this be true, I will go without a biddin
O kind providence, won't you take me tae a wedding

And its O dear me, how would it be,
if I die an old maid in a garret

Well, there's my sister Jean, she's not handsome or good looking
Scarcely sixteen and a fella she was courting
Now at twenty-four with a son and a daughter
Here am I at forty-four and I've never had an offer

I can cook and I can sew and I can keep the house right tidy
Rise up in the morning and get the breakfast ready
There's nothing in this whole world would make me half so cheery
As a wee fat man to call me his own deary

So come landsman or come skinsman, come tinker or come tailor
Come fiddler or come dancer, come ploughboy or come sailor
Come rich man, come poor man, come wise or come witty
Come any man at all that will marry me for pity

Well now I'm away home for nobody's heeding
Nobody's heeding and nobody's pleading
I'll go away to my own bitty garret
If I can't get a man, then I'll have to get a parrot

Translation:
Garret (as used in this song)- : a (usually) small (and sometimes unpleasant) room or space area just below the roof of a building

Composition:
 "Old Maid in a Garret is a popular and humorous (though politically incorrect, of course) traditional Irish folk song. Like many traditional folk songs, the original author is not known, but some sources say that the song is a derivative of an English ballad written by Martin Parker, an English pub-owner and balladeer who lived in the early 1600s. At any rate, it's a funny song with a rousing chorus, thus making it popular for pub sing-alongs  (often sung by men for an added touch of irony)" ...  

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