Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID# 2059 (When Sick Is It Tea You Want?)

RhythmBars8-bar phrase structureMode
Double jig32AABBD Major
Transcription of first 2 bars of When Sick Is It Tea You Want?
 about these two bars

These two bars are the start of my transcription of how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording SE 2 (details in the Discography below).

Where do you get the tune titles?
Titles given to this tune in the sources listed below (plus notes of mine about this tune):
When Sick Is It Tea You Want? / When Sick Is It Tea That You Want? / When Sick Is It Tea You Want / When Sick, Is It Tea You Want? / The One-Legged Man / The Penniless Traveller / Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself / Come from the Devil and Shake Yourself / The Irish Newsman
What do the "track#tune" codes mean?

cd Discography

Here are all recordings of this tune considering only the indexed recordings. I have discovered by careful listening that these sources are in fact musically the same tune, regardless of the tune titles they use, key changes, retuning, etc. They are listed in order of when they were recorded.

Year
Recorded		 Track
#Tune		 [Album code] Artist. Title. Primary musicians (instruments). Album details
and contents
~19735#1[SE 2] Seamus Ennis. The Pure Drop. Seamus Ennis (pipes).View album details
~199810#1[FFH] Far From Home. Tri. Turner Collins (accordion, whistle, vocals), Bob Newton (octave mandolin, mandocello, bodhrán, vocals), Daithi Wolfe (fiddle).View album details
19999#1[CrssCl] Seamus Glackin, Brendan Begley, Michael O'Brien, Mary Corcoran, Mick Gaynor. Crossroads Céilí. Seamus Glackin (fiddle), Brendan Begley (accordion), Michael O'Brien (flute), Mary Corcoran (piano), Mick Gaynor (drums).View album details
20011#1[JBC] Johnny B. Connolly. Bridgetown. Johnny B. Connolly (accordion).View album details

Bibliography

Here are all transcriptions of this tune under any title whatsoever – considering only the indexed books – listed in chronological order. I have discovered by careful comparison that these are very similar to this tune as played on the recordings listed above.

As tune #710 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #714 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #772 in [1850] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. [available]
As tune #16 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
As tune #358 in [1001] Francis O'Neill and James O'Neill. The Dance Music of Ireland. 1001 Gems. [available]
On page 18 of [Krsn] Miles Krassen. O'Neill's Music of Ireland. New and Revised. [available]
On page 20 of [Ba] Betty M. Barlow. Fiddle Tunes for the Violinist. [available]
As tune #28 in [DM 2] Dave Mallinson. 100 Enduring Irish Session Tunes. [available]
As jig #22 in [Ng] Alan Ng. Alan Ng's Transcriptions. [available]
As jig #145 in [Cobb] Dan Cobb. Cobb's Music of Ireland. [available]

If you are considering using the above transcriptions to help you learn this tune, I invite you to check these practical Tips for Learning Irish Traditional Music. See also: So why do you bother indexing books and abc?

Year of the oldest source for this tune, considering the recordings and transcriptions listed above (note that I concentrate on sources after 1900): 1903
Please cite your source when you use information from this document.
© 2000–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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