I Won't Be A Nun

barndance

Key signature: Gmajor

Submitted on November 6th 2004 by ceolachan.

This tune has been added to 14 tunebooks.

Also known as I Cannot Be A Slave, I'll Marry And I Won't Be A Nun, Irish Freedom March, Máirseáil Uí Shúilleabháin, Máirseáil Uí Shúilleabháin Mhóir, O'Sullivan Mor, O'Sullivan's March, Tyrone Ditches, Tyrone's Ditches, Tyrones Ditches, Uí Shúilleabháin Mhóir.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• Citternalia by Joseph Sobol
• Film Cuts by The Chieftains
• FYH by Brendan Begley And Caoimhin O'Raghallaigh
• Irish Heritage: Ireland's Musical Tradition (CD 1) by Various Artists
• Leo Rowsome: Classics Of Irish Piping by Leo Rowsome
• May Morning Dew by Mick O' Brien
• Set On Stone by The Kilfenora Ceili Band
• The Bee's Wing by The Turloughmore Ceili Band
• The Best Of The Chieftains by The Chieftains
• The Celtic Album by Boston Pops
• The Chieftains 7 by The Chieftains
• The Story So Far by John Creavan
• Tiomnacht / Handed On by Eoin O Riabhaigh

X: 1
T: I Won't Be A Nun
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: barndance
K: Gmaj
|: G>A |
Bd g>a g2 fe | dB B>c B2 AG | Bd ce dB GB | Ag fe dc BA |
Bd g>a g>a b/a/g/f/ | ed B>c B2 AG | Bd ge dB AB | G2 G>A G2 :|
|: fg |
a<f d>f d2 ga | bg e>f e2 ga | bg af ge dB | AD FA dc BA |
Bd g>a g>a b/a/g/f/ | ed B>c B2 AG | Bd ce dB AB | G2 G>A G2 :|
|: ab |
c'b af ge dc | BG/B/ dB/d/ g2 ab | c'b af ge dB | BA AB A2 G>A |
Bd g>a g>a b/a/g/f/ | ed B>c B2 AG | Bd ge dB AB | G2 G>A G2 :|

K:Dmaj
|: D>E |
FA d>e d2 cB | AF F>G F2 ED | (3FGA dB AF DF | EF/E/ EF/E/ EF/E/ D>E |
(3FGA de d>e f/e/d/c/ | B/A/F FG FG/F/ ED | FA dB AF EC | D2 D>C D2 :|
|: A/B/c/d/ |
ec A>B A2 A/B/d/e/ | fd B>c B2 de | fd ec dB AF | FE E>F E2 D>E |
FA d>e d2 f/e/d/c/ | BA F>E F2 FE/D/ | FA dc/B/ AF EC | D2 D>C D2 :|
|: de/f/ |
g(3f/g/f/ e>c d(3B/c/B/ A>G | FD/F/ A/D/(3F/G/A/ d2 de/f/ | gf ec dB AF | (3FGA D>F EF/E/ D>E |
FG/A/ d>c d>e f/>e/d/c/ | BA FG F2 E>D | F/G/A dF AF EF | D2 D>C D2 :|

Did you hear the one about the two nuns? Well:

Here's a couple of ways with them, and I actually do like playing them in both keys, moving from one to the other. Some folks, as has been said before, do not do the repeats, so, there's another option, along with the several scattered through these two keys, getting a bit whoozy in the low down. The first is along the lines of the way Leo Rowsome had it on an old 78, with the repeats...

# Posted on November 6th 2004 by ceolachan

Almost forgot - It's a March:

How else do you think they get around in those habits, you have to march...kickin' all that fabric before you as you go, keeping a steady beat as you kick. Alright, yes, I am speaking from experience. So I once dressed up as Friar Tuck - in wool too. I'm getting itchy just thinking about it.

# Posted on November 6th 2004 by ceolachan

Two nuns were cycling along the cobbled road and heard to say "We've never come this way before".

# Posted on November 6th 2004 by Johannes J

Something to sing about, though not exactly the same air:

T: I Won't Be a Nun
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
R: song
K: Cmaj
GG|c/c/B GG|AG FE|D2 GG|c2 AG|AG GG|FE DC|C2 EG|c2 GG|E2
A2|GG EE|E2 Ac|c2 cG|Ac Bc|cc Bc c2||

What a pi-ty that such a prêt-ty girl as I
Should be sent to a nun-ne-ry to pine a-way and die!

chorus: So I won't be a nun, I can-not be a nun!
For I'm so fond of plea-sure that I can-not be a nun.

I'm sure I cannot tell what's the mischief I have done,
But my mother oft tells me that I must be a nun.

chorus: But I won't be a nun, I cannot be a nun!
I'm so fond of pleasure that I cannot be a nun.

I could not bear confinement, it would not do for me.
I like to go a-shopping and to see what I can see.

chorus: So I won't be a nun, I cannot be a nun!
I'm so fond of pleasure that I cannot be a nun.

I love to hear men flattering, love fashionable clothes,
I love music and dancing and chatting with the beaux.

chorus: So I won't be a nun, I cannot be a nun!
I'm so fond of pleasure that I cannot be a nun.

O mother, don't be angry now, but let your daughter be,
For the nuns would not like to have a novice wild as me.

chorus: And I won't be a nun, I cannot be a nun!
I'm so fond of pleasure that I cannot be a nun.

From Ballads and Songs, Belden
Collected from M. L. Greer; tune from G.C. Broadhead 1910

# Posted on November 6th 2004 by ceolachan

Another "O'Sullivan's March" - 6/8

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/2204

# Posted on November 6th 2004 by ceolachan

"Tyrone's Ditches":

For some their take on this one is just as a 2-parter, A & B. That's OK, but it is a shame to miss the fun of part C...

# Posted on November 7th 2004 by ceolachan

i didn't know there were words to this. Is it sung without the third part, so the verses line up with the parts? There aren't enough verses for it to go through three parts twice.

i love this tune, but i thought it was a march. No?

# Posted on November 9th 2004 by m_gavin

Marching on - - -

Hey, I'm the dyslexic - check above, second from the top - "It's a March!"

# Posted on November 10th 2004 by ceolachan

You can dance to marches, why not sing to them too, eh?

# Posted on February 26th 2007 by ceolachan

"Tyrone's Ditches" ~ "The Tyrone March"

Key signature: A Mixolydian
Submitted on February 25th 2007 by ceolachan.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/6860

This march has also picked up the title "Tyrone's Ditches" or "Tyrone Ditches"... It would be good if someone out there can give some clarification on this point...

# Posted on February 26th 2007 by ceolachan

Didn't Seamus Ennis record this tune? I can't remember which album it appears on, or what title he gives it - clearly not one of the titles listed here, as no Seamus Ennis recordings come up in the discography. Looking through the recordings database, I notice that there is a tune on 'The Best of Irish Piping' called 'O' Sullivan the Great'. Could that be it?

# Posted on February 27th 2007 by granama