Annotation:Bristol Fair
X: 1 T: Bristol Fair. A Dance R: jig Z: 2014 John Chambers <jc:trillian.mit.edu> S: The Gentleman's Magazine v.23, September 1753, p. 483 N: Dots added to last note in each strain, to fix the rhythm. M: 6/8 L: 1/8 F:http://www.john-chambers.us/~jc/music/book/GM/1753/Bristol_Fair.abc K: G % - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |:\ GAB TB3 | ABc Tc3 | (B/c/dB) c2B | ABG FED |\ GAB TB3 | ABc Tc2e | dcB AGF | G3 G,3 :| |:\ GBd gdB | gdB gdB | A^ce ae^c | ae^c ae^c |\ GBd gdB | gdB gdB | (A/B/cB) AGF | G3 G,3 :| % - - - - - - - - - - Dance description - - - - - - - - - - %%begintext align %% The 1st couple foot it to the 2d woman, hands three round .|, foot it to the 2d man, %% hands four round :|, lead down 2 coup. and cast up one coop. .|, and right and left :|. %%endtext
BRISTOL FAIR. English, Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody first appeared in Sylvanus Urban's periodical The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronical (as "Bristol Fair, A Dance") printed in London in 1753. It was later published by John Johnson in Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 7 (London, 1756) and Charles and Samuel Thompson's 1757 country dance collection. In manuscript, it appears in the music copybooks of Cheapside, London, musician Walter Rainstorp (dated 1747) and Northumbrian musician William Vickers (1770). The name Bristol (Glouchestershire) is an Anglo-Saxon name, given as Bricgstow in 1063, 'the meeting place by the bridge.' The fair at Bristol was a major economic and cultural event, drawing traders and merchants from throughout England's West Country and Ireland.
