Irish Traditional Music Tune Index
Tune ID#3436 (I Buried My Wife and Danced on Top of Her)
about these two barsThese two bars were transcribed by me from how this tune was played – the first time through – on the recording WC 3 (details in the Discography below).
| Rhythm ? | Bars | 8-bar phrase structure | Mode ? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double jig | 32 | AABB | D Major |
I Buried My Wife and Danced on Top of Her / I Buried Me Wife and Danced on Top of Her / I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave / I Buried My Wife and Danced on Top of Her Grave / I Buried My Wife / The Frieze Breeches / The Frieze Britches / La San Sean, ba chraite an mhaidin i / Cunla / The Trumlo (1st in set I Buried My Wife and Danced on Top of Her on Drv 2) (compare 5-part setting as Frieze Breeches #677 and compare as song / slide / single jig Cúnla #435)
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.
Click 
to hear the first 12 seconds.
to hear the first 12 seconds.| Year Recorded |
Track #Tune? |
[Album code] Artist. Title. Performers (instruments). |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 6#1 | [WC 3] Willie Clancy. The Pipering of Willie Clancy. Volume 2. Willie Clancy (pipes, whistle). For this tune: (pipes). |
| ~1981 | 6#2 | [MM 2] Matt Molloy. Heathery Breeze. Matt Molloy (flute). For this tune: (Eb flute). |
| ~1986 | 12#1 | [HMSP] Joe Burke, Michael Cooney, Terry Corcoran. Happy to Meet and Sorry to Part. Joe Burke (accordion), Michael Cooney (pipes, whistle), Terry Corcoran (guitar, vocals). |
| ~1991 | 4#1 | [PG 2] Paddy Glackin. Rabharta Ceoil. In Full Spate. Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitar, bodhrán). For this tune: with Robbie Hannan (pipes). |
| 1992 | 10#1 | [MH 1] Martin Hayes. Martin Hayes. Martin Hayes (fiddle). |
| ~1995 | 6#1 | [Drv 2] Dervish. Playing with Fire. Cathy Jordan (vocals, bodhrán, bones), Shane Mitchell (accordion), Shane Mc Aleer (fiddle), Liam Kelly (flute, whistle, vocals), Brian Mc Donagh (mandola, mandolin, guitar, vocals, bassola), Michael Holmes (bouzouki, guitar). |
| ~1996 | 7#1 | [ECotter] Eamonn Cotter. Traditional Irish Music from County Clare. Eamonn Cotter (flute). |
| ~1996 | 4#1 | [JOBM] Jimmy O'Brien-Moran. Seán Reid's Favourite. Jimmy O'Brien-Moran (pipes). For this tune: (B pipes). |
| 1997 | 2.7#1 | [Drv 4] Dervish. Live in Palma. Cathy Jordan (vocals), Liam Kelly (flute), Shane McAleer (fiddle), Shane Mitchell (accordion), Brian McDonagh (mandola, guitar), Micheal Holmes (bouzouki). |
| ~2002 | 7#3 | [BRny 2] Brian Rooney. Leitrim to London. Brian Rooney (fiddle, accordion). |
| ~2002 | 21#1 | [TMIYD] Ronan Browne and Peter O'Loughlin. Touch Me If You Dare. Ronan Browne (pipes, flute), Peter O'Loughlin (fiddle, flute). For this tune: (pipes), (fiddle). |
| ~2003 | 1.3#2 | [WFO 2] Wooden Flute Obsession 2. Tara Diamond (C flute). |
Bibliography
Here are all transcriptions of this tune 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 #100 in volume 1 of [R] Francis Roche. The Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music. 3 vols. |
| As tune #11 in [WC] Pat Mitchell. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy. |
| On page 11 of [MR] Barbara Wygol (tunes), Jenny Loui (text). The Piper's Chair. A Collection of Tunes and Folklore from Micho Russell. |
| As tune #213 in [Raff] Lesl Harker. 300 Tunes from Mike Rafferty. |
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): 1927