The Frost Is All Over - Week 1

My 52-week challenge is underway!  I picked my first tune primarily based on its title.  I'm not sure about the weather in the rest of the country/world, but this has certainly been a record-breaking and odd winter season here in the Midwest!  My friends Caitlin and Jason exchanged marriage vows on Saturday, March 26 in four inches of snow.  The temperatures the prior Saturday and the following weekend topped 70 and 80 degrees!  As such, I thought "The Frost Is All Over" might be an appropriate tune - and will hopefully keep those cold temperatures away for the rest of the year!

It's a simple jig in the key of D, and it has a light-hearted feel to it - makes me hopeful for spring!  From just a bit of research, it appears that this traditional Irish tune goes by many names:  "Frost Is All Over," "The Slán le Sioc," "The Frost Is All Gone," "The Loughrea Jig," "Lisdoonvarna," "Frieze Britches," "The Praties Are Dug and the Frost Is All Over," "The Praties are Dug," "The American Dwarf," "What Would I Do if the Kettle Boiled Over?," "Mist of Clonmel," and "On a Monday Morning," among others.

I even found lyrics!

What will we do if the kettle boils over
What will we do only fill it again
What will we do if the cow eats the clover
What will we do only set it again
The preaties are dug
And the frost is all over
Kitty lie over close to the wall
How would you like to be married to a solider
Kitty lie over close to the wall

What would you do if you married a solider
What would you do only follow his gun
What would you do if he died in the ocean
What would you do only marry again
The preaties are dug
And the herrings are roasted
Kitty lie over close to the wall
You to be drunk and me to be sober
Kitty lie over close to the wall

What will we do if the kettle boils over
What will we do only fill it again
What will we do if the cow eats the clover
What will we do only set it again
The preaties are dug
And the frost is all over
Kitty lie over close to the wall
How would you like to be married to a solider
Kitty lie over close to the wall

According to Ted on Yahoo! Answers, apparently it's safe to assume that "preaties" or "praties" refer to potatoes - fun fact to know and tell!

One of my favorite things to do is to string like-sounding tunes together.  After a few loops through this jig, I fell right into "Peter's Peerie Boat," another D tune in 6/8 by Tom Anderson that I learned from my friend Wes Chappell of No Strings Attached.

A cheap trick we attempted late one night at Swannanoa (Asheville, NC - 2005)

I might try to look for another new tune for next week to make it a three-tune thread!