Annotation:Female Tatler (The)

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FEMALE TATLER, THE. AKA - "Female Tattler, The." English, Country Dance Tune (3/2 time). B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody first appears in London publisher John Young's Dancing Master, Second Volume [1], in the first edition of 1710. Young retained the melody in the subsequent editions, ending with the fourth edition of 1728. The tune also appears in Walsh and Hare's Second Book of the Compleat Country Dancing-Master (London, 1719), and in John Walsh's Compleat Country Dancing-Master, Volume the Sixth (London, 1754).

The Tatler [2] is the name of a London newspaper (published three days a week) that was first published in 1709 by Richard Steele, using the pen-name "Isaac Bickerstaff, Esquire". The aim of the periodical was to print news and gossip that filtered through London's coffeehouses. It was a successful venture that lasted for two years before Steele moved on to other publishing projects, and it was imitated by others; Edinburgh had its Tatler, for example. Three months after the appearance of Steele's paper, a similar venture hit the city streets called The Female Tatler, published by an unknown woman using the name "Mrs. Crackenthorpe. Although it ran for less than a year (starting in July, 1709) it was known for its lively wit and scathing satire. "Mrs. Crackenthorpe" gave way to a "Society of Ladies", although no one knows who (or even what sex) was involved in the publication.

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