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Annotation:Fourth Dragoon's Regimental March
X: 1 T:Fourth Dragoon's March. RHu.128 S:R.Hughes MS,1823,Whitchurch,Shrops. N:rests added A:Whitchurch, Shropshire Z:Tony Weatherall 2006 M:C L:1/8 Q:1/4=110 R:March K:G D|G2G>G G2Bc|dB G>GG2 cd|ecg2dBg2|gfag fedc| BdBG AcAF|GABc defg|bgfg fed^c|d2d>dd2z:| |:z|a2a>a ac'ba|g2g>g gbag|fedg fedc|B2A2A>AA2| G2G>G ABcd|ec g2fd g2|B>dc>e A>cF>A|G2G>GG2z:| |:z|B4 A2A>A|G4FGAB|(dc)cc (cB)BB|B4A2A>A| d4c4|B4ABcd|eccA AGGF|(A4G2)z:| |:z|f>fa>af4|g>gb>bg4|GABc defa|g4fedc| B4A2A>A|d4c4|B2(3BcAG2F2|(A4G2)z:|
FOURTH DRAGOON'S REGIMENTAL MARCH. AKA - "4th Dragoons March (The)," "The Fourth Dragoons' March." AKA and see "General Lafayette's March," "Hull's Fourth Dragoon March," "Leitrim Dragoons." English, March (cut time). England, Shropshire. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCCDD. According to information from Pipe Major Norman McCutcheon, Armagh (relayed by Fr. John Quinn), the designation "Fourth Dragoons" occurred in 1788. Prior to that the force had been in existence under several different names, having first been raised in 1685 by James Hamilton Douglas (1658-1712), 4th Earl of Arran, as the Sixth Force, renamed Arran Force in 1687, Prince of Wales in 1715 and First Horse in 1746, the converted to a light dragoon regiment in 1788 (4th Dragoons). Over the years the cavalry unit saw service in a host of conflicts spanning the globe. After Irish independence in 1921 they were withdrawn to England, and amalgamated with another regiment as The Royal Irish Fourth and Seventh Dragoon Guards, their present name. The Fourth Dragoons (The Fourth {Queen's Own} Regiment of {Light} Dragoons) were one of the calvary units of the British Army that participated in the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. See Wikipedia article on the 4th Queen's Own Hussars for more.
An alternate title is "Hull's Fourth Dragoon March," referring not the the Yorkshire town of Hull, but to the composer, one E. Hull, whose quick and slow marches were advertised in 1826 as being played at Vauxhall Gardens.
The tune can also be found in Ireland as "Leitrim Dragoons," a title that probably refers to the tune's appearance under the title "4th Dragoons March (The)" as the second tune in Book 6 of the large 1883 music manuscript collection of County Leitrim fiddler and piper Stephen Grier.
The melody appears in two early 19th century music manuscripts from Shropshire, Robert Hughes (1823) and John Moore (c. 1835-40), and, as "Hull's Fourth Dragoon March," in the c. 1840's manuscript collection of Lawrence Leadley, a fiddler from Helperby, Yorkshire. A rather elaborate version of the march was entered by musician Lionel Winship of Moat Hill, Wark, Northumberland, in his copybook dated 1833. The melody also appears in the anonymous music manuscript collection entitled Melodist: A Collection of music in two volumes(1826-1859), entered on the first page dated ”Feb. 27, 1826.” The march is titled "General Lafayette's March" in the ms., probably inspired by Lafayette's 1824 visit to America.
