Annotation:Caledonian Laddie
X:1 T:Caledonian Laddie, The M:C| L:1/8 R:Country Dance B:Preston's Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year 1798 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D FE|D3E FEFA|BABd e3f|dcBA BdAF|GB E2-EGFE| D3E FEFA|BABd e3f|dcBA BdBG|FA D2D2:|| de|f2f2 gfed|cdec A2Bc|d2 B2 Bcde|f2B2B2 cd| A3B AFEF|D2 d2 d2 cB|A2A2 BAGF|GB E2-EGFE| D3E FEFA|d2 de f2^D2|E3F GEGB|e2 ef g2 ef| gfe^d eBe=d|cAce A2 Bc|d2 F2 EFGA|F2D2D2||
CALEDONIAN/CALEDONEAN LADDIE. AKA- "Caledonian Hornpipe." Scottish; Air, Hornpipe, Quickstep. D Major (most versions): B-Flat Major (Howe). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (O'Farrell): AABB (Cole, Ford, Gatherer, Huntington): AA'BB (Kerr's). A broadside ballad, with words that begin:
Blythe Sandy is a bonny boy,
And always is a wooing, O,
He is e'er so bold and kind,
Although he is a wooing, O!
CHORUS.
Last night he press'd me to his breast,
And vow'd he'd ask my daddy, O!
O dear ! he'd wed me, he confest,
My Caledonian Laddie, O!
My bonny, bonny, Highland boy,
My bonny, bonny, Highland boy,
My bonny, bonny, Highland boy,
Is my Caledonian Laddie, O !
The melody appears in a variety of publications and musicians manuscripts dating to the end of the 18th century and the early 19th, found on both sides of the Atlantic. In the John Fife music manuscript (collected in Perth and perhaps at sea, c. 1780-1804) it is described as a quickstep.
