Annotation:East Indian

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EAST INDIAN. English, Jig (6/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The jig appears in Samuel, Ann & Peter Thompson's Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year (1783, p. 63) and their Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5) (London, 1788, p. 63). Researcher Graham Christian (2015) finds the publication of the country dance closely followed the staging in London's Haymarket of East Indian, a play by "a poetess" (according to George Coleman's poetical prologue). Unfortunately, it was not a success and closed quickly. David Erskine Baker's Biographia Dramatica (1812) dismisses it thusly:

The East Indian. Com. Acted at the Haymarket, 1782. Not printed. This piece, though called a comedy, had very few comic situations; nor were there any traits of East Indian manners in the character from which the play took its name. It was languidly received, and laid aside after nine nights. It is said to have been a lady's production.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; p. 37. Christian (The Playford Assembly), 2015; p. 28. Thompson (Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year 1783), 1783; p. 63. Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5), 1788; No. 126, p. 63.

Recorded sources:

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