Annotation:Forest (The)
X:1 T:Forrest [sic], The M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig N:"Irish" B:Gow - 2nd Collection of Niel Gow's Reels, 3rd ed., p. 6 (1788) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D (DED) T(FEF)|d2d def|(DED) TF2G|AFD TE2D| (DED) T(FEF)|d2d d2e|fdc TB>cd|1 AFD E2D:|2 AGF EFA|| |:B>cB TBAF|A>BA AFA|B>cB TBAF|{B}AGF EFG|B>cB TBAF| AFG ABc|1 dfe dcB|{B}AGF EFA:|2 def efd|ABG FGE||
FOREST, THE. AKA and see "Duchess of Hamilton's Delight," "Legacy (2) (The)," "Skiver the Quilt (1)," "Tailor's Wedding (The)." Scottish, Jig (6/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'. Gow labels the tune as "Irish," and researcher Aloys Fleishmann finds the earliest appearance of the tune under the title "Skiver the Quilt (1)" in a c. 1765 collection entitled Reels, Minuets, Hornpipes, Marches for the Violin Flute etc. (MLS MS 3346, p. 84). The ms. he cites contains both Scottish and Irish tunes, though the provenance is not identified. There seems to be quite a bit of cross-influence between Scottish and Irish settings: Niel Gow printed the tune as "Forest (The)" with the alternate title "Duchess of Hamilton's Delight" and identified its provenance as "Irish". Francis O'Neill included the tune in his Music of Ireland (1903) using the same title as Gunn, "The Tailor's Wedding." A Scottish port-a-beul (mouth music) melody, "Fosgail an dorus" (Open the door) is cognate in the first strain.
Fosgail an dorus dh'an tailleir fhidhleir
Fosgail an dorus dh'an fhidhleir thailleir
Fosgail an dorus dh'an tailleir fhidhleir
Cliamhain a' righ fidhleir tailleir
Translation:
Open the door for the fiddling tailor
Open the door for the tailoring fiddler
Open the door for the fiddling tailor
The King's son-in-law is the tailoring fiddler.
