Annotation:Kensington Court

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KENSINGTON COURT. English, Country Dance Tune (cut time). D Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Kensington Court" first appears in Henry Playford's Dancing Master, 9th edition (London, 1695), and in all subsequent editions through the 18th, published by John Young in 1728. It also appears in Johnson's publication of Wright's Compleat Collection of Celebrated Country Dances, vol. 2 (London, 1742), and John Walsh's Compleat Country Dancing Master (London, 1718, and editions of 1731 and 1754).

In Playford's time Kensington Court was the site of two large country houses, Colby House and Kensington House, belonging to the Colby family. However, by the early 19th century, Kensington House had become a lunatic asylum and Colby House was a boarding house for women. By the 1860s, the two houses and surrounding gardens were sold for building land.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Barlow (Complete Country Dance Tunes from Playford's Dancing Master), 1985; No. 327, p. 79. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; p. 69.

Recorded sources:

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