Annotation:Merry Dancers (The)
X:1 T:Merry Dancers M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig S:Bremner - (Scots Reels), c. 1757 p. 94 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G c | (B>AB) cGE | GAG G2c | T(B>AB) cGE| DED D2c | T(B>AB) cGE | GAG c2e | dcB c2B | AFD D2 :| |: c | (B/c/d)B GAG | (B/c/d)B G2c | (B/c/d)B GAG | (F/G/A)F D2c | (B/c/d)B GAG | (B/c/d)B c2e | dcB c2B | AFD D2 :| |: g | T(f>ef) gdB | gdB G2g |T(fef) gdB | AFD D2g | T(f>ef) gdB | def gdB | cac BgB | AFD D2 :|]
MERRY DANCERS, THE. AKA and see "Bonny Lass (2)," "Bonny Lass of Our Town," "Ellingham Hall," "Merry Dance (2) (The)." English, Scottish; Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC. The John Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearance of a melody by this name in print in Scottish collections in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection, though in also appears in the (James) Gillespie Manuscript of Perth, 1768. As might be surmised the title "The Merry Dance" or "The Merry Dancers" was a popular one in country dance literature and many dances and tunes can be found with this name in England, Scotland and America. One American dance with this title is included in Clement Weeks' dance MS (Greenland, New Hampshire, 1783). County Cork cleric and uilleann piper James Goodman entered a version in volume 1 (p. 32) of his large mid-19th century music manuscript collection as "Merry Dance (2) (The)." "Bonny Lass (2) is the title by which the jig appears in the 1770 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers. "See also "Ryan's Rant."
