HISTORICAL NOTES for SOLOS FOR TREBLE INSTRUMENT
ESPECIALLY SOPRANO RECORDER
COLLECTION 6: BRITISH MELODIES
Arranged/composed by Clark Kimberling
Arrangement titles begin with the letters A-Y.
Composition titles begin with the letter Z.
Most of the 240 solos in Collection 6 can be accessed by clicking SOLOS 6 - but first, read this: the solos occupy 201 pages and may take a minute to download, and your computer must have Acrobat or some other PDF reader. After viewing the solos, you may wish to print them and put them in a huge notebook. Also, before clicking SOLOS 6, you really should browse these Historical Notes, in which you'll find many links to in-depth information and charming little-known facts.
If you play recorder, flute, violin, or clarinet, you’ll certainly want to take a look at the music itself.
Forty-six of the solos in Collection 6 are not included in SOLOS 6; they hae been published separately. For details, visit Flute or Recorder. When you get there, be sure to view the Table of Contents.
Contents |
Collection 6 includes arrangements of melodies by many known composers:
Prince Albert: Coburn
J. L. Macbeth Bain: Brother James’ Air
William Byrd: The Carman’s Whistle
John Clark: Sward House
William Crotch: Big Ben
David Dow: Comely Garden
Donald Dow: Mrs. Graham of Balgowan
Giles Farnaby: Quodling’s Delight
Nathaniel Gow: Cheap Mutton, Lament for Mrs. Oswald of Auchincruive, Loch Earn, Miss Clementia Loughman, Mrs. Horston of Rosehall’s Favorite, Mr. MacDouall Grant, Mrs. Weyme of Cuttlehill, Penny Wedding, Sleepy Maggy
Niel Gow: Miss Coulston, Dunkeld Harmitage
William Gow: The Fife Hunt
George Frederic Handel: Handel’s March, O Ruddier than the Cherry
King Henry VIII: Gentil Prince, Hélas Madame, Pastime with Good Company
James Hill: Earl Grey
James Hook: Flowers of the Forest, Steadfast Shepherd
Clark Kimberling: Z-solos at end of Collection 6
Malcom MacDonald: Perth Races
John MacGill: Prince of Orange
Alexander Mackay: The Braes of Glenorchy
Robert Mackintosh: Lady Elizabeth Cole’s Delight
William Owen: Bryn Calfaria
Joseph Parry: Aberystwyth
James Paisible: The Friendship, Paisible’s Hornpipe, Pastorall
Henry Purcell: Minuet, Purcell’s Hornpipe, The Sailor’s Dance
Allan Ramsey: The Lass of Pattie’s Mill
Frederick Joseph Ricketts: Colonel Bogey
John Riddell: Rothesay Country Dance
William Shield: Morpeth Rant
John Stafford Smith: The Hunter’s Song
Sir Arthur Sullivan: My Eyes are Fully Open; O Gentlemen, Listen I Pray; Welcome, Happy Morning; When I Was a Lad
Robert Williams: Llanfair
John Young: Katrin Hoggie
All Alive; Amarillis; Apley House; Ballet; Bath Carnival; The Beggar Boy; Brigid of the Fair Hair; Chelmsford Assembly; Cockle-Shells; Daniel Cooper; Daphne; English Dance; Faithful Shepherd; Female Saylor; Fiddler’s Morris; The Friendship; The Frog Galliard; Hunsdon House; I’ll Touzle Your Kurchie; Jack’s Health; Jack’s Maggot; Katharine Ogie; Kiss Me Quick My Mother’s Coming; Knole Park; Mad Robin; The Merry Doctor; Morpeth Rant; Mouse in a Trap; Purcell’s Hornpipe; The Touchstone; Trip to Bath; The Whisgig
A-Roving; At the Foot of a Willow; British Grenadiers; The Cheshire Man; Country Gardens; Cupid’s Courtesy; The Death of Parcy Reed; The Derby Ram; Dover Pier; For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow; Green Grow the Rushes, Oh!; Greensleeves and Yellow Lace; Highland Mary; Kemp’s Jig; Ladies of London; Paisible’s Hornpipe; Parsons’s Farewell; Shepherd’s Hey; Shepton Hornpipe; Such a Wife as Willie Had; The Sprig of Thyme
Andrew and Maudlin; The Baffled Knight; Cold Frosty Morning; Flowers of the Forest; Good Morrow, Gossip Joan; Handel’s March; Minuet; My Eyes Are Fully Open; O Gentlemen, Listen I Pray; The Sailor’s Dance; Steadfast Shepherd; When I Was a Lad
Aberystwyth; Agincourt Hymn; The Ash Grove; Birstal; Brother James’ Air; Bryn Calfaria; Bunessan; Coburg; Easter Hymn; England’s Lane; King’s Lynn; Kingsfold; Llanfair; O Waly Waly; Royal Oak; St. Denio; Welcome, Happy Morning
Colonel Bogey; Handel’s March; Zamarche
Coburg (Prince Albert)
The Gaberlunzie Man (King James of Scotland)
Gentil Prince (King Henry VIII)
Hélas Madame (King Henry VIII)
Pastime with Good Company (King Henry VIII)
Auld Lang Syne; Balquhidder Lasses; Banks of Esk; Banks of Inverness; Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond; Cheap Mutton; Comely Garden; Duke’s Retreat; Dunkeld Harmitage; Dunse Dings; Earl of Dalkeith; The Fife Hunt; The Gaberlunzie Man; George Skene’s Mixolydian Reel; Gilderoy; He’s Aye Kissing Me; Highland Dance; I Wish You Would Marry Me Now; Jenny Nettles; Johnnie Cope; Joy to the Person of My Love; Katrin Hoggie; Kelvingrove; Kilecrankie; Knit the Pocky; Lady Shaftsbury; Lament for Mrs. Oswald of Auchincruive; Loch Earn; Miss Clementina Loughman; Miss Coulston; Miss Jessy Stewart’s Strathspey; Mr. Blair’s Jig; Mrs. Graham of Balgowan; Mrs. Horston of Rosehall’s Favorite; Mrs. MacDouall Grant; Mrs. Weyme of Cuttlehill; O Waly Waly; Ostend; The Outlandish Knight; Penny Wedding; Prince of Orange; Push about the Jorum;
Rothesay Country Dance; Scottish Hornpipe; Scottish Reel; Shackley Hay; Sleepy Maggy;
The South Bridge of Edinburgh; Sward House; Waltzing Matilda; Whare Wad Bonie Annie Lie;
The Yellow-Haired Laddie
There are 230 solos covered by Historical Notes 6, and 186 of them are in SOLOS 6. That leaves 44 solos that will be published separately, not in SOLOS 6. ( For details, click here after March 1, 2010.) In the list below, the 44 solos are indicated by an asterisk (*).
A-ROVING, one of the best-known English sailor-worksongs, classified as a capstan shanty, sung during long or repetitive tasks, such as raising or lowering the anchor. For the lyrics and mention of the tune as early as 1630, visit In Plymouth Town. In her distinctive book, Tune, Imogen Holst writes “The last of the English antiphonal work songs to survive were the sailor’s chanteys that flourished until steam spoilt them in the last nineteenth century.” (Both spellings, chanty and chantey, are correct.)
ABERYSTWYTH(*), composed by Joseph Parry (1841-1903). For biographical sketches, visit The University of Wales at Aberystwyth and the BBC Hall of Fame.
AGINCOURT HYMN(*), composed before 1425, possibly to commemorate of the victory of King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Also known as Deo gracias, Anglia, from this text:
Deo gracias, Anglia, redde provictoria
Our king went forth to Normandy
with grace and might of chivalry;
There God for him wrought marv’lously,
wherefore England may call and cry: Deo gracias!
Visit the Battle of Agincourt.
ALL ALIVE, in John Young’s collection, The Dancing Master, London, 1713. Visit The Dancing Master.
ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT(*), in Edward Jones’s Musical Relicks of the Welsh Bard, London, 1784, as Ar Hyd Y Nos. Visit Contemplator.
AMARILLIS, in The Playford Ball, a treasury of 103 English Country Dances, 1651-1820, first published before 1729. (The modern spelling is Amaryllis.) The Playford Ball is named after John Playford, who started The Dancing Master.
ANDREW AND MAUDLIN, traced back to 1719-1720 in Claude M. Simpson’s The British Broadside Ballad and Its Music.
APLEY HOUSE, in Henry Playford’s Twenty-four New English Country Dances, 1702. Apley House was built before 1620 by William Whitmore. It was located near Bridgton on the Severn River. Visit the present Apley Hall.
THE ASH GROVE, in Edward Jones’s collection, The Bardic Museum, London, 1802. In Welsh, the tune name is Llwyn Onn.
AT THE FOOT OF A WILLOW(*), in Thomas D’Urfey’s New Collection of Songs and Poems, 1683.
AULD LANG SYNE(*), traditional Scottish melody often sung at New Year’s Eve. The words “auld lang syne” mean “old long since” and have probably been sung as far back as 1700. Scottish poet Robert Burns may have been first to publish the song, in the mid-1790s.
THE BAFFLED KNIGHT, in Youth’s Delight on the Flagelet, 9th ed., circa 1690, and in George Lillo’s ballad opera Silvia, 1731.
BALLET, earliest publication in Jacob van Eyk’s Der Fluyten Lust-Hof, Amsterdam, 1654, where the tune is entitled Ballet. While the tune may have had a Dutch origin, it became very popular in England under at least eight names other than Ballet. Simpson writes, “The tune was called into fullest play in the political warfare of the 1680s…[it] appeared as “Dours Catastrophe or Lawyers leave your Pleading” among the violin tunes appended to the 1665 edition of The Dancing Master.
BALQUHIDDER LASSES, was collected from a gipsy-piper in Scotland by Alfred Moffat and included in Maud Karpeles’s Lancashire Morris Dance Tunes, published for the English Folk Dance Society, Novello, London, 1930. Balquhidder is a village in Perthshire, Scotland. Visit Balquhidder Church.
BANKS OF ESK(*), in James Aird’s A Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, Glasgow, 1790-97. Visit the Esk River.
BANKS OF INVERNESS, in O’Farrell’s Pocket Companion for the Irish or Union Pipes, London, 1804-1816. The river, which flows through Inverness, Scotland, is known both as Ness River and Inverness River. Visit Inverness.
BATH CARNIVAL, published in 1777 and included in The Playford Ball. The name Bath refers to the English city, so named for the hot springs popular since Roman times. Visit the City of Bath.
THE BEGGAR BOY, in early editions of The Dancing Master, 1651-1690.
BELIEVE ME IF ALL THOSE ENDEARING YOUNG CHARMS, in Vocal Music: or the Songster’s Companion, London, 1775, to the words of My Lodging Is on the Cold Ground. The origin of the tune has been claimed as England by some authorities, Ireland by others, and Scotland by yet others. The tune is also called Fair Harvard when sung to the words penned by the Rev. Samuel Gilman in 1836. Visit Fair Harvard.
BIG BEN, composed as Westminster Chimes about 1793 for Great St. Mary’s Church, Cambridge, England, probably by William Crotch. In 1859-60, the tune was copied for Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament, London. Possibly first published in music notation in 1867. Crotch (1775-1847) was a child prodigy organist at Great St. Mary’s in 1786-1788. Visit The Story of Big Ben.
BIRSTAL, published by John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, in Sacred Melody (1761) and Sacred Harmony (1781). Both John and Charles Wesley preached at Birstal Hill in the West Yorkshire village of Birstall (modern spelling), near Leeds. From 1761 to 1821, BIRSTAL was published in 59 British and 19 American collections. It appears that it was not republished during the twentieth century except in one dissertation. In 1786, Wesley designated Birstal as the tune to which Charles Wesley’s hymn “O for a thousand tongues to sing” should be sung. This hymn has often been called “the first Methodist hymn,” as it was number 1 in the first Methodist hymnal (1780) and most of its successors. The tunes now sung to the hymn (e.g., AZMON and RICHMOND) were composed decades after the Wesleys had died.
BOLD BRENNAN ON THE MOOR, a song that commemorates outlaw William Brennan, hung in Cork, Ireland, in 1804. The country of origin of the tune is unknown. Visit Contemplator.
BONNY BANKS OF LOCH LOMOND(*), probably first published about 1840. According to legend, a young man awaiting execution in England in 1746 said to his sweetheart visiting from Scotland, “Ye’ll take the high road, and I’ll take the low road (the grave), and I’ll be in Scotland afore ye.”
BONNY CHARLIE, in volume 2 of James Aird’s A Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, 1790-1797. Visit Bonnie Prince Charlie.
THE BRAES OF GLENORCHY(*), composed by Alexander Mackay, “Musician of Islay,” and published in [A Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Slow Tunes…Chiefly Composed by] [A.M.], Glasgow, c. 1805. Vist Glen Orchy and Isle of Islay.
BRIGID OF THE FAIR HAIR, appears as Bow Wow in [John] Rutherford’s Compleat Collection of the Most Celebrated Country Dances, London, c. 1756.
BRITISH GRENADIERS, probably first published about 1750, in several editions. An account is given in Fuld, who notes that the song is referred to in a publication entitled The Recruiting Officer, London, 1706.
BROTHER JAMES’ AIR, composed by James Leith Macbeth Bain, whose pen name was Brother James. Bain, a mystical writer, poet, and spiritual healer, named the tune MAROSA. In Gordon Jacob’s popular choral arrangement (Oxford University Press, 1934) the tune is renamed Brother James' Air.
BRYN CALFARIA, composed by William Owen (1813-1893). Visit Cyberhymnal.
BUNESSAN(*), a Gaelic melody possibly first published in Edinburgh, 1888. The words, “Morning has broken…” by Eleanor Farjeon, were commissioned by Percy Dearmer for Songs of Praise, London, 1931. Popularized in the 1970s by folk singer Cat Stevens. The original words and place of origin of Bunessan are unknown. Bunessan is a Scottish town on the Isle of Mull. Visit Bunessan.
BUTTERED PEASE, noted as an 18th-century melody in Frank Kidson’s Old Country Dance and Morris Tunes, J. Curwen, London, 1920.
THE CARMAN’S WHISTLE, composed by William Byrd, published in The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, vol. 1. This book was owned by Lord Fitzwilliam in 1783 and reposes in the Fitzwilliam Museum. The book was mentioned in writing as early as 1740. Visit William Byrd.
CHEAP MUTTON(*), composed by Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831), renowned Scottish fiddler. Visit Significant Scots.
CHELMSFORD ASSEMBLY, in John Johnson’s, Two Hundred Favourite Country Dances, vol. 8, London, c. 1753.” Chelmsford is located in Essex, about thirty miles northeast of London. An “assembly” was an eighteenth-century ball sponsored by public officials, dancing masters, and citizens’ groups.
THE CHESHIRE MAN, in Edward Jones’s Popular Cheshire Melodies, 1798. Visit Cheshire and Contemplator.
THE CLEAN CONTRARY WAY, in a 17th-century manuscript in the Cambridge University Library, copied and discussed in Simpson’s The British Broadside Ballad and Its Music.
COBURG, composed by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Included in a rare volume of the Prince’s compositions and in the British Methodist Hymn Book, 1904. The name Coburg is a part of the Prince’s father’s title, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, in Germany. Visit Prince Albert.
COCKLE-SHELLS, in Henry Playford’s The Dancing Master, 11th edition, London, 1701.
COLD FROSTY MORNING, in John Playford’s Apollo’s Banquet, 5th edition, London, 1687 as “At past Twelve a Clock, and a fine Summer’s Morning”, and in John Hippisley’s opera, Flora, London, 1737, as “At Past One a Clock, and a Cold Frosty Morning.”
COLONEL BOGEY(*), composed in 1914 by Kenneth J. Alford, pseudonym for Kenneth Joseph Bicketts (1881-1945). Colonel Bogey was already one of the world’s most famous marches before its use with whistlers in the movie The Bridge over the River Kwai in 1957. Visit biographical sketch and The Real Colonel Bogey.
COMELY GARDEN, composed by David Dow, published in the Gow Collection of Scottish Dance Music. The modern edition compiled and edited by Richard Carlin is based on folios published by Nathaniel Gow in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. See Dunkeld Harmitage.
COUNTRY GARDENS(*), probably first published in The Quaker’s Opera, London, 1728. The tune is also known as The Vicar of Bray.
COURANTE(*), composed by George Frederic Handel.
CUPID’S COURTESY, in Thomas D’Urfey’s Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, London, 1719-1720, volume VI.
DANIEL COOPER, in The Dancing Master, 9th edition, 1695. The tune is known by several other names, including, My Child Must Have a Father.
DAPHNE, in The Playford Ball, first published as early as 1686. Ovid’s myth of Daphne, popular in 17th-century England, is retold at Apollo and Daphne.
THE DEATH OF PARCY REED, published in Northumbrian Minstrelsy, 1882. The ballad tells of Parcy Reed, who died during the border conflicts.
THE DERBY RAM, in Llewellynn Jewitt’s The Ballads and Songs of Derbyshire, 1867. For the humorous lyrics, visit Folkplay.
DOVER PIER, in Preston’s Twenty Four Country Dances, London, 1791. Dover, England lies just 21 miles across the English Channel from Calais, France. Visit the White Cliffs of Dover.
DUKE UPON DUKE, in a 1720 text, “Set to Musick by Mr. Holdecombe,” in the Bodleian Library, Oxford University.
DUKE’S RETREAT, a Scottish hornpipe in O’Farrell’s Pocket Companion for the Irish or Union Pipes, London, 1804-1816.
DUNKELD HARMITAGE, composed by Niel Gow. The Introduction in Carlin’s 1986 publication of the Dow collection tells of the Dow family and their work as leading Scottish dance music composers and fiddlers. The two main figures are Niel Gow (1727-1807) and his son Nathaniel (1763-1831). Carlin reproduces 598 tunes from the Dow collections. Niel Gow was born near Dunkeld. Visit Dunkeld Hermitage.
DUNSE DINGS, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. Dunse is a town in Scotland. For the meaning of “Dunse Dings” and an account of the origin of the word “dunce”, visit The Fiddler's Companion.
EARL GREY(*), composed by James Hill. You can view Hill’s manuscript of this melody. The name of the melody refers to Charles Earl Grey.
EARL OF DALKEITH, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. Visit Dalkeith.
EASTER HYMN(*), first published with the ancient Easter text, “Jesus Christ is risen today,” in Lyra Davidica, London, 1708. The tune was revolutionary for this usage; indeed, the preface to Lyra Davidica describes the tunes as providing “a little freer air than the grave movement of the Psalm-tunes.”
ENGLAND’S LANE, in Thomas D’Urfey’s Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, 1719-1720, volume VI. Adapted as a hymn tune – and found in modern hymnals as England's Lane – by Geoffrey Shaw, for the words “For the beauty of the earth,” in Public School Hymn Book, London, 1919.
ENGLISH DANCE, one of the oldest existing examples of English secular music, dating from the 14th century. The original reposes in the Bodleian Library, Oxford University. This dance music belongs to a type called “estampie” – a French designation pronounced es-tomp-ie. The steps of the dance seem to be unknown.
FAITHFUL SHEPHERD, noted as an 18th century tune in Frank Kidson’s Old Country Dance and Morris Tunes, J. Curwen, London, 1920.
THE FEMALE SAYLOR, in The Playford Ball. A note in the edition by Keller and Shimer indicates that the tune may be of French origin, but that it was known as early as 1710 in England as a country dance.
FIDDLER’S MORRIS, noted as an 17th century tune in Frank Kidson’s Old Country Dance and Morris Tunes, J. Curwen, London, 1920.
THE FIFE HUNT, composed by William Gow, included in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. William Gow, a brother of Nathaniel Dow, was Leader of the Edinburgh Assembly Orchestra.
FLOWERS OF THE FOREST, composed by James Hook of London. Several of his songs were published in New York, including this one, sometime during 1812-1818. Visit biographical sketch.
FOR HE’S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW(*), frequently printed as Malbrouk and Marlbourouck in France beginning in 1783, but not definitely associated with the familiar English words until as late as 1870, in New York. At that time, the tune was known as “We Won’t Go Home till Morning.” It is also sung to “The Bear Went over the Mountain.” Fuld gives a detailed account.
THE FRIENDSHIP, composed by James Paisible (1650-1721), published in London, c.1715. You can download a copy of the original publication from the Library of Congress. Paisible was a noted performer on recorder and oboe. Much of his music was written for the theatre.
THE FROG GALLIARD, a well known melody traced as far back as John Dowland’s First Book of Songes, 1597.
THE GABERLUNZIE MAN(*), sometimes ascribed to King James V of Scotland. For a historical sketch and lyrics, visit Contemplator.
GENTIL PRINCE(*), arranged from the various parts of a part song composed by King Henry VIII, who owned many recorders. For a documented discussion of the King’s role as a patron or music and as a composer, see “Henry VIII, King of England” in the The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Visit Music of Henri the VIII.
GEORDIE, a song with English and Scottish versions, published in William Chappell’s Old English Popular Music, 1859.
GEORGE SKENE’S MIXOLYDIAN REEL(*), identified as simply Reel in George Skene’s Musick Book, preserved in the National Library of Scotlandshelfmark MS 5.2.21.
GILDEROY, in Alexander Stuart’s Musick for Allan Ramsay’s Collection of Scots Songs, c. 1725, and in garbled form several years earlier, as Gilder Roy, a pseudonym of outlaw Patrik M’Gregour, executed with some of his gang members near Edinburgh on July 29, 1636. Visit Contemplator.
THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME, a march found in a manuscript from about 1770. Also known as Brighton Camp, the tune was printed in several collections of military music. Visit Contemplator.
GOOD MORROW, GOSSIP JOAN, in Thomas D’Urfey’s Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, 1719-1720, volume VI.
GRAMERCY PENNY, in Thomas D’Urfey’s Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, 1719-1720, but a tune named “Gramercy Penny” – possibly an earlier version of the present tune, was used for a poem by Martin Parker in 1633.
GREEN GROW THE RUSHES, OH! In Lucy E. Braodwood and J. A. Fuller Maitland’s English County Songs, London 1893, collected in Dorsetshire. For a discussion of the lyrics of this popular camp-song, as well as indications that it may be quite old, visit Commentary.
GREENSLEEVES AND YELLOW LACE(*), in John Playford’s The Dancing Master, 7th edition, London, 1686. Differs slightly from the Christmas carol Greensleeves, arranged in Collection 2.
HANDEL’S MARCH, from George Frederic Handel’s opera, Riccardo I. The tune was one of the first used as a hymn tune by the earliest Methodists, as John Wesley included it in his earliest tunebook, The Foundery Collection, 1742. Visit Handel’s Chronology and note the entries for May 16, 1727 and November 11, 1727.
HE’S AYE KISSING ME, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. The title means ”He’s always kissing me.” Visit The Fiddler's Companion.
HÉLAS MADAME, possibly composed by King Henry VIII, and certainly associated with his court. The title means “Alas, Madam!” Visit Music of Henri the VIII and Stainer & Bell. See GENTIL PRINCE.
HIGHLAND DANCE, in James Aird’s A Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, Glasgow, 1790-97, volume 5.
HIGHLAND MARY, in William Chappell’s Old English Popular Music (1859). Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote the words and set them to an old air, Katherine Ogie (included below). In 1792 Burns described that tune as “poor stuff.” Chappell gives a different tune, “sung [to Burns’s Highland Mary poem] early in the [19th] century in the streets of Leeds.” He continues, “It is apparently Scottish, but a very diligent search…has failed to bring any tune resembling it to light. The air is from the singing of my mother.” Modern searching confirms that the present Highland Mary escaped the notice of many collectors. It is likely that the “real” Highland Mary was Mary Campbell, who became Burns’s wife. Visit Burns Heritage Park.
THE HUNDRED PIPERS, a melody associated with a well-known song about the Occupation of Carlisle, November 15, 1745.
HUNSDON HOUSE, in John Playford’s The Dancing Master, 3rd edition, 1665. Visit Hunsdon: Henry VIII's Great Tudor House.
THE HUNTER’S SONG, composed by John Stafford Smith, who also composed the tune which, with words by Frances Scott Key, is the American national anthem. Of Smith’s music, only The Star-Spangled Banner is well known - it is arranged in Collection 5.
I WISH YOU WOULD MARRY ME NOW(*), in Robert Bremner’s Thirty Scots Songs, Edinburgh, 1757.
I’LL TOUZLE YOUR KURCHIE, in John Johnson’s A Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, volume VII, London, c. 1760. The title means “I’ll rumple your kerchief.”
JACK’S HEALTH, in John and William Neal’s A Choice Collection of Country Dances, printed and sold in Christ Church Yard, Dublin, 1726.
JACK’S MAGGOT, in Henry Playford’s Twenty Four New Counry Dances, London, 1702. The word “maggot” - meaning “whim” - is common among names of early dance tunes. So, too, is “Jack”, which possibly refers to Jacobites, who supported the return of the Stuarts to the throne.
JENNY NETTLES, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. See DUNKELD HARMITAGE.
JOAN TO THE MAYPOLE, in Thomas D’Urfey’s Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, 1707 and 1719. Visit Streetswing for information on the Maypole.
JOHNNIE COPE(*), in James Johnson’s The Scots Musical Museum, 6 volumes, Edinburgh, 1787-1803 (volume 3). For an account of the routing of Sir John Cope’s army by Scottish Highlanders in 1745, visit Cope.
JOY TO THE PERSON OF MY LOVE(*), named for the first line of a song found in a manuscript in the National Library of Scotland, dated 1639. In George Farquhar Graham’s Ancient Scottish Melodies, London, 1839.
KATHARINE OGIE, on the Additional Sheet, c. 1687, appended to 7th edition of John Playford’s The Dancing Master.
KATRIN HOGGIE, in John Young’s A Collection of Original Scotch Tunes for the Violin, London, c. 1700. Clearly the melodies Katrin Hoggie and Katharine Ogie are related.
KELVINGROVE, in [George] Thompson’s Collection of the Songs of Burns, Sir Walter Scott,… United to the Select Melodies of Scotland and of Ireland and Wales, London & Edinburgh, 1822. Visit Kelvin Grove and Kelvin Grove Museum.
KEMP’S JIG, in John Playford’s The English Dancing Master, London, 1651. William Kemp was one of William Shakespeare’s clowns. Visit Shakespeare's Players. Kemp's Jig commemorates a publicity stunt, during which Will Kemp danced from London to Norwich, a distance of 125 miles. Betting was heavy, and a pipe-and-tabor musician served as accompanist and referee. Kemp wrote a book entitled Kemps Nine Daies Wonder: Performed in a Daunce from London to Norwich: Containing the Pleasure, Paines and Kinde Entertainment of William Kept between London and that Citty in his Late Morrice: Wherein is Somewhat Set Downe Worth Note; to Reproove the Slaunders Spred of Him: Many Things Merry, Nothing Hurtfull. The book was first published in London, 1600, and has since been republished several times. Perhaps the most widely accessible fascimile appears in Chris Harris’s Will Kemp: Shakespeare’s Forgotten Clown, published by The Kylin Press, Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, England in 1983.
KILECRANKIE, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. See DUNKELD HARMITAGE. Dow subtitles the tune with these words: “Had Ye Been Whar I Hae Been Ye Wadna Be Sae Canty.” Visit Battle of Killecrankie.
KING’S LYNN, in Lucy Etheldred Broadwood’s English County Songs, London, 1893. Included in The English Hymnal, 1906, by the music editor of that hymnal, Ralph Vaughan Williams. Prior to becoming one of England’s greatest composers and promoters of English music, Vaughan Williams collected folk songs. He collected King's Lynn at the town of King's Lynn on January 9, 1905. In The English Hymnal and subsequent hymnals, King's Lynn carries a poem by the renowned author G. K. Chesterton. The first stanza follows:
O God of earth and altar,
bow down and hear our cry,
our earthly rulers falter,
our people drift and die;
the walls of gold entomb us,
the swords of scorn divide,
take not thy thunder from us,
but take away our pride.
KINGSFOLD(*), like FOREST GREEN and KING'S LYNN, an English folk song collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams and included in The English Hymnal, 1906.
KISS ME QUICK MY MOTHER’S COMING(*), in John Johnson’s A Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, volume II, London, c. 1742.
KNIT THE POCKY, in Robert Bremner’s Thirty Scots Songs, Edinburgh, 1757. A pocky is a bag, especially a beggar’s bag for carrying meal, or a cap or hood. To knit means to overfill or burst.
KNOLE PARK, in Henry Bishop’s Six New Minuets and Twelve Country Dances, London, 1788. Visit Knole House and Knole Park.
LADIES OF LONDON, a tune associated with a song by Thomas D’Urfey in his Compleat Collection, 1687. The music was printed on the New Additional Sheet, c. 1688, of the 7th edition of John Playford’s The Dancing Master, London. Visit Advice to the Ladies, In the Choice of Their Husbands.
LADY ELIZABETH COLE’S DELIGHT, composed by Robert Mackintosh and included in one of his collections.
LADY SHAFTSBURY, possibly composed by Nathaniel Gow, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. See Dunkeld Harmitage. See Green Apple at The Fiddler's Companion for the possibility that Malcolm MacDonald was the composer (and that the Lady’s name was Shaftesbury).
LAMENT FOR MRS. OSWALD OF AUCHINCRUIVE, composed by Nathaniel Gow, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection.
THE LASS OF PATTIE’S MILL, in John Sadler’s Apollo’s Cabinet or The Muses Delight, volume 1, Liverpool, 1756.
LLANFAIR, ascribed to Robert Williams (1782-1818). Williams was born and died in Anglesey County, North Wales. Visit Cyberhymnal. Efforts to identify a particular place represented by the name Llanfair encounter difficulties because of many Anglesey similar placenames; see Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
LOCH EARN, in Nathaniel Gow’s “Second Collection of Reels,” 1788. Visit Loch Earn in Perthshire, Scotland.
MAD ROBIN(*), in Henry Playford’s The Dancing Master, London, 1695.
THE MERRY DOCTOR, in John Walsh’s Twenty Four Country Dances, London, 1748.
MINUET(*), composed by Henry Purcell for his play, The Double Dealer, 1693.
MISS CLEMENTINA LOUGHMAN, composed by Nathaniel Gow, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection.
MISS COULSTON, composed by Niel Gow, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection.
MISS JESSY STEWART’S STRATHSPEY, in John MacPherson Mulhollan’s A Selection of Irish and Scots Tunes, Edinburgh, 1804. Visit Strathspey.
MR. BLAIR’S JIG(*), in James Aird’s A Selecton of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, Glasgow, 1790-97, vol. 5. The full title is Mr. Blair of Blairs Jig. Blairs is a town in Kincardineshire, near Aberdeen, Scotland.
MRS. GRAHAM OF BALGOWAN, composed by Donald Dow, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. Donald Dow was also known as Daniel Dow. For details, visit The Fiddler's Companion.
MRS. HORSTON OF ROSEHALL’S FAVORITE, composed by Nathaniel Gow, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection.
MRS. MACDOUALL GRANT, composed by Nathaniel Gow, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection.
MRS. WEYME OF CUTTLEHILL(*), composed by Nathaniel Gow, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection.
MORPETH RANT, a hornpipe composed by William Shield. View two manuscript versions.
MOUSE IN A TRAP, in [John] Rutherford’s Compleat Collection of the Most Celebrated Country Dances, London, c. 1756, volume III.
MY EYES ARE FULLY OPEN(*), composed by Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan, for the opera Ruddigore. Visit Gilbert & Sullivan's Riddigore.
NIEL GOW’S BONNY CHARLIE, arranged by Niel Gow in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. See Dunkeld Harmitage. Based on the well known Scottish song, Bonny Charlie.
O GENTLEMEN, LISTEN I PRAY, composed by Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan, for the Gilbert & Sullivan opera Trial by Jury. Visit Trial by Jury and the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive.
O RUDDIER THAN THE CHERRY(*), composed by George Frederic Handel for his opera Acis and Galatea. The solo is the giant's love-song, “an unctuous, catching melody almost too full of humor and grace for the fierce brute of Aetna.”
O WALY WALY, a traditional Scottish song, named by Cecil Sharp for his collection, Folk Songs from Somerset, 1906, series 3. The name corresponds to a 17th-century English verse beginning with the words “O waly, waly, up the bank”. The version of tune appears in William Chappell’s Old English Popular Music, 1859, as sung by Mr. Halliday of Newtondale, North Yorkshire, to the words “My true love once he courted me…”
ONE VERY KEEN WINTER, In Lucy E. Broadwood and J. A. Fuller Mailand’s English County Songs, 1893, as Ny Kirree Fo-sniaghtey, collected from Quayle C. Farrant, at St. John’s, Isle of Man. Visit Kirk Lonan. The seven verses refer to specific locations (Braid-farrane-fing, Kirk Lonan, Kirk Christ, Berroll, Agneash), and the chorus is as follows:
One very keen winter,
The young lambs were saved,
and the old sheep were lost;
Oh! Rise now, my shepherds,
to the mountains up go!
For the sheep are all buried
deep under the snow.
THE ORIGINAL HIGHLAND LADDIE, in Robert Bremner’s Thirty Scots Songs, Edinburgh, 1757. For extensive notes on this famous melody, visit The Fiddler's Companion. A footnote in Nathaniel Dow’s collection identifies the piece as the Quick Step of the gallant 42nd Regiment, performed when the Regiment was reviewed by His Majesty [King George III] at Ashford, May 7, 1802. Near the end of World War II, the British invasion of Normandy’s Sword Beach was led by a piper playing this melody. Visit Sword Beach.
OSTEND, in W. Dauney’s Ancient Scottish Melodies, Edinburgh, 1838, and in the Skene manuscript of music for mandora (a precursor of the mandolin) from the 1630’s.
THE OUTLANDISH KNIGHT, in David Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, 1776, as May Colvin. Visit Contemplator.
PAISIBLE’S HORNPIPE, composed by James Paisible for a new dance, c.1713. You can down load a copy from the Library of Congress. What you will find is an interesting and artful way for music to be published, in connection with sketches of newly invented dance steps. The hornpipe follows Paisible’s Pastorall (just below). See also The Friendship.
PARSON’S FAREWELL, in the first edition of volume 2 of The Dancing Master, compiled by W. Person, J. Cullen, J. Young, and A. Levingston, London, c. 1710. The tune was a Bourrée in the early 1600’s in Europe. A “Farewell” was often sung as a “last will and testament” of a person recently deceased.
PASTIME WITH GOOD COMPANY, possibly composed by King Henry VIII. See Gentil Prince.
PASTORALL(*), composed by James Paisible, c.1713. See Paisible's Hornpipe.
PENNY WEDDING(*), composed by Nathaniel Gow, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. See Dunkeld Harmitage.
PERTH RACES, composed by Malcolm MacDonald (c. 1740-1800). Visit Perth.
PHYLLIS THE LOVELY, an English ballad-melody well-known as the theme of one of the movements of Handel’s Water Music.
THE POLITICK LADY, in Henry Playford’s The First Book of Apollo’s Banquet, 7th edition, 1693. See a facsimile of the cover page.
PRETTY POLLY OLIVER, printed as a broadside about 1840. Visit Contemplator.
PRINCE OF ORANGE, attributed to John MacGill, the town piper of Girvan, found in the Joshua Campbell collection, 1778. For a note on Campbell, visit Highland Music Trust.
PRINCE WILLIAM OF GLOS’TER’S WALTZ, in Preston’s Twenty Four Country Dances, London, 1801. Prince William Frederick of Gloucester (1765-1837) became King William IV of England in 1837, and reigned until succeeded in 1837 by Queen Victoria. He was known as the Sailor-King.
THE PRINCESS ROYAL, in Gow’s “Repository” according to The Scottish Country Dance Book 2, Paterson’s Publications, London, 1926. However, the tune occurs as Miss MacDermott or the Princess Royal in Donal O’Sullivan’s Carolan: The Life Times and Music of an Irish Harper, Ossian, Cork, Ireland, 2001. Thus, the melody may have started out as a composition of the renowned blind harper Turlough Carolan (1670-1738). (Other arrangements of melodies by Carolan are in Collection 3: Irish Melodies.) Visit Contemplator.
PURCELL’S HORNPIPE, composed by Henry Purcell and published in 1695 as Air VIII Hornpipe, and in John Young’s The Dancing Master, 17th edition, London, 1721. This hornpipe was used in the incidental music for the 1693 revival of Aphra Behn’s play, Abdelzer, or the Moor’s Revenge. Aphra Behn is remembered as the earliest female professional writer in English. Virgina Woolf wrote, "All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey…” Visit the Aphra Behn Page.
PUSH ABOUT THE JORUM, in (Carlin’s) Nathaniel Dow collection. See Dunkeld Harmitage. A jorum is a large drinking vessel, and “Push about the Jorum” means “Pass along the whiskey.” Visit The Fiddler's Companion.
QUODLING’S DELIGHT(*), composed by Giles Farnaby, published in The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, vol. 2. (See The Carman's Whistle.) The Fitzwilliam collection has a total of 52 piece by Giles Farnaby.
RED JOAK, in John Walsh’s The Third Book of the Most Celebrated Jigs [and much else], London 1731. Joak means joke. Walsh’s collection includes other Joaks (Black, White, Yellow, Brown), all follow-ups to a very popular Black Joak.
ROTHESAY COUNTRY DANCE, composed by John Riddell, published in 1766, according to The Scottish Country Dance Book 3. For at biographical sketch, visit The Fiddler's Companion and Rothesay Castle in Rothesay, Island of Bute, Scotland.
ROYAL OAK, possibly from a 17th-century song celebrating the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, named Royal Oak after a famous tree in Shropshire, where Charles II hid prior to his restoration. Published repeatedly in The Dancing Master, beginning in 1686, under the names May Hill and The Jovial Crew. Now a favorite children’s hymn, adapted by Martin Show in Song Time, London, 1915, with these words:
All things bright and beautiful,
creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful,
the Lord God made them all.
THE SAILOR’S DANCE(*), composed by Henry Purcell, in his opera Dido and Aeneas.
SAILOR’S JIGG, in John Walsh’s Caledonian Country Dances, Book III, London, c. 1740.
ST. DENIO, probably derives from the Welsh carol and ballad tradition. First appeared as a hymn tune in Caniadau y Cyssegr (Songs of the Sanctuary) Denbigh, Wales, 1839. Used by Ralph Vaughan Williams in the second movement (scherzo) of Household Quartet: Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes, 1944.
ST. MARTIN’S, in John Playford’s The English Dancing Master, London, 1651. The old St. Martin-within-Ludgate Church was lost in the 1666 London fire, but you can visit the rebuilt church.
SCOTTISH HORNPIPE, in Henry Playford’s A Collection of Original Scotch Tunes, London, 1701, as A New Scotch-Measure
SCOTTISH REEL, in George Skene’s Musick Book, National Library of Scotland, 1715-1717, as A New Reill.
SHACKLEY HAY, in George Skene’s Musick Book, National Library of Scotland, 1715-1717.
SHEPHERD’S HEY(*), one of the best known of all Morris dance tunes, especially as a result of the arrangement by Percy Grainger. Published in John Grahams’ Shakespearean Bidford Marris Dances, J. Curwen, London, c. 1920. Visit The Shakespeare Morris Men, who are “The Keepers of the Bidford-on-Avon Tradition.”
SHEPTON HORNPIPE, collected in Somerset by Cecil Sharp and included in Maud Karpeles’s Lancashire Morris Dance Tunes, published for the English Folk Dance Society, Novello, London, 1930.
SLEEPY MAGGY(*), in the Drummond Castle Manuscript, 1734, and published in Robert Bremner’s Thirty Scots Songs, Edinburgh, 1757.
SMALL BIRDS SWEETLY SINGING(*), a tune with one-hundred eleven versions in B. H. Bronson’s Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, Princeton University Press, 1959. The present arrangement is based on a version called Seeds of Love, collected by Cecil Sharp in 1904, as sung by Jim Squires of Holford, Somerset, England. Lyrics:
I sow’d the seed of love
And I sow’d them in the spring,
I gather’d them up in the morning so soon,
While the small birds sweetly sing,
While the small birds do sweetly sing.
THE SOUTH BRIDGE OF EDINBURGH, said to have been composed by an anonymous fiddler in the autumn of 1787, to celebrate the opening of the South Bridge. Visit The Fiddler's Companion.
THE SPRIG OF THYME, in William Chappell’s Old English Popular Music, 1859, collected from Mr. Lolley from East Riding, Yorkshire, England.
STEADFAST SHEPHERD, composed by James Hook for The Minstrel, opus 33. See Flowers of the Forest.
SUCH A WIFE AS WILLIE HAD, in Henry Playford’s Apollo's Banquet, The Second Book, London, 1691.
SWARD HOUSE, composed by John Clark and published in his work, A Collection of New Strathspey Reels and Country Dances, Perth [Scotland], c.1795. A copy this rare collection is in the library of Glasgow University.
THOMAS, YOU CANNOT, in John Playford’s Musick's Delight on the Cithern, 1666.
TIT FOR TAT, in John Johnson’s A Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, volume II, London, c. 1742.
THE TOUCHSTONE, in Thompson’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, volume 4, London, 1780.
TRIP TO BATH, in John Johnson’s A Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, volume II, London, c. 1742.
WALTZING MATILDA(*), a song known as the Australian national anthem, with a tune that was probably originally Scottish. Visit the National Library of Australia and view the relevant Scottish tunes.
WANTON SEASON, in William Chappell’s Old English Popular Music, 1859. Chappell traces the tune to a manuscript in the Cambridge University Library.
WATKIN’S ALE, in The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, volume II. See The Carman's Whistle.
WELCOME, HAPPY MORNING, composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan (as in Gilbert and Sullivan), as Fortunatus, for the English hymnal The Hymnary (London, 1872), which he edited. This Easter hymn has been included in many subsequent hymnals.
WELSH QUICK STEP, in Edward Jones’s Hen Ganiadau Cymru. Cambro-British Melodies, or the National Songs and Airs of Wales..., volume 3, London 1820.
WHARE WAD BONIE ANNIE LIE, a tune in Scots Musical Museum, 1792, popularized by its marriage to Robert Burns’s poem, O wah my babie-clouts will buy?
WHEN I WAS A LAD(*), composed by Sir Arthur Sullivan for H. M. S. Pinafore, which opened at the Opera Comique in London on May 28, 1878, and ran for 571 performances. Visit the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive.
THE WHISGIG, in [John] Rutherford’s Compleat Collection of the Most Celebrated Country Dances, vol. III, London, c. 1756.
THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, of Scottish or Irish origin. For details, see The Fiddler's Companion. The assertion that this tune is a reworking of Nathaniel Gow’s Largo’s Fairy Dance seems untenable. You can view Scott Skinner's arrangement of that tune.
THE YELLOW-HAIRED LADDIE, in W. Thomson’s Orpheus Caledonius: or, A Collection of Scots Songs, 2 volumes, London, 1733.
YOUNG JEMMY, in Humphry Salter’s The Genteel Companion for the Recorder, 1683, described at Recorder Home Page.
ZACCARONI to ZYRIESHA, composed by Clark Kimberling during 2004-2005 for Collection 6, several while visiting in England and Wales. Here is a list of the Z-solos:
Zaccaroni, Zalliard, Zamarche, Zamboola, Zamplie, Zassy Frass, Zelda, Zelly Zing, Zenazoe, Zeppiffany, Zeptune, Zestina, Zestnut, Zetunia, Zhickadee, Zhire, Ziah, Zicah, Zicheeli, Zickelpickel, Zielona, Zifford, Zigg, Ziliea, Zillippippi, Zillow, Zim Bob, Zimpasoodle, Zindidoah, Zingazetti, Zingowaltz, Zinnia, Zinninninni, Zinorah, Zip Zap Toe Tap, Zip Zap Zickery Zoo, Zip Zip Ziddi Zock, Zipaol, Zippa Zappazaruh, Zippidoodle
Richard Carlin, compiler and editor, The Gow Collection of Scottish Dance Music, Oak Publications, New York, 1986.
William Chappell, Old English Popular Music, 1859. Reprinted with preface, notes, and revisions by H. Ellis Wooldridge, J. Brussel, New York, 1961.
Aloys Fleischmann, editor, Sources of Irish Traditional Music c. 1600-1855, two volumes, Garland Publishing, New York and London, 1998.
James J. Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular and Folk, Third Edition, Dover Publications, New York, 1985.
J. A. Fuller-Maitland, W. B. Squire, and B. Winogron, The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, Dover, New York, 1980.
Raymond F. Glover, The Hymnal 1982 Companion (four volumes), The Church Hymnal Corporation, New York, 1990.
Imogen Holst, Tune, Faber and Faber, London, 1962.
Kate Van Winkle Keller and Genevieve Shimer, editors, The Playford Ball: 103 Early Country Dances 1651-1820 As Interpreted by Cecil Sharp and His Followers, A Cappella Books and The Country Dance and Song Society, 1990.
J. A. Fuller Maitland and W. Barclay Squire, The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, two volumes, Dover, New York, 1980.
Claude M. Simpson, The British Broadside Ballad and Its Music, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1966.
Nicholas Temperley, The Hymn Tune Index, 4 volumes, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998.
Scottish Music History
Biographical Sketches of Early Scottish Musicians and Musicsellers
Magazine for Traditional Music throughout the World
When you get there, be sure to click Links and Sessions
Dance music resources and histories of melodies
Country Dance and Song Society
Recorder Resources
The Society of Recorder Players (British)
American Recorder Society
European Recorder Teachers Association UK
The Recorder Home Page
Flute Resources – British
British Flute Society
Flute Resources - American
National Flute Association
Clicking will take you to Historical Notes, and from there you can download solos as PDFs (except for Collection 2, for which all the solos are published commercially).
Historical Notes for Collection 1: African-American and Jamaican Melodies
Historical Notes for Collection 2: Christmas Carols; click here for access to the carols.
Historical Notes for Collection 3: Irish Melodies
Historical Notes for Collection 4: Americana to 1865
Historical Notes for Collection 5: Americana after 1865
Historical Notes for Collection 6: British Melodies
Historical Notes for Collection 7: Melodies by Women
Historical Notes for Collection 8: Eastern European and Jewish Melodies
Historical Notes for Collection 9: American Indian Melodies
Historical Notes for Collection 10: Latin American Melodies
Historical Notes for Collection 11: African Melodies
Historical Notes for Collection 12: Western European Melodies
From Collection 6
Banks of Esk, tenor recorder
The Braes of Glenorchy (Alexander Mackay), tenor recorder
Colonel Bogey (Kenneth J. Alford), soprano recorder
Fiddler's Morris, soprano recorder
Joy to the Person of My Love, soprano recorder
Kingsfold, soprano recorder
