Annotation:Shepherd's Hey (1)

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X:1 T:Shepherd’s Hey [1] L:1/8 M:2/2 S:Headington version K:G B2d2c2c2|BcdB A2A2|BcdB ccBc|d2A2G3A| B2d2c2c2|BcdB A2A2|BcdB ccBc|d2A2G3|| A|B2G2c3A|B2G2A4|BcdB cBcA|d2A2G3A| B2G2c3A|B2G2A4|BcdB cBcA|d2A2 G4||

SHEPHERD'S HEY [1]. AKA - "Shepherds' Aid." AKA and see "Vexed Editor (The)," "What You Please (3)." English, Morris Dance Tune (4/4 time). F Major (Bacon Adderbury): G Major (most versions). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Bacon Bidford, Bucknell, Longborough, Wheatley): AAB (Mallinson Headington): AABB (Barnes, Mallinson Adderbury, Fieldtown & Lichfield; Bacon Ascot, Adderbury, Brackley, Fieldtown, Headington): AABBBBBB (Bacon Ilmington): AABBAAABBBAAABBB (Bacon Lichfield). A (x12), BBB, AABBB, AABBB, AA (Bacon & Mallinson Bampton): AABBAACCAABBAACC (Bacon Bledington). The Shepherd's Hey is the name of several variations of a dance popular among Cotswold morris for full teams or as a morris jig for three men; in fact, it is probably the most famous morris dance melody and can be found in various forms throughout England. During the dance the dancer keeps patting himself on the cheeks, breast and legs “in a most curious way.” As one of the most widespread of the Cotswold morris melodies it was collected, with some variation, from the villages of Ascot Under Wychwood (Oxfordshire), Adderbury (Oxfordshire), Badby (Northamptonshire), Bampton-in-the-Bush (Oxfordshire), Bidford (Warwickshire), Bledington (Gloucestershire), Brackley (Northamptonshire): Bucknell (Oxfordshire), Fieldtown (Cecil Sharpe's name for the village of Leafield, Oxfordshire), Headington (Oxfordshire), Ilmington (Warwickshire), Lichfield (Staffordshire), Longborough (Gloucestershire), and Wheatley (Oxfordshire). The "Shepherd's Hey" entered in the music manuscript of Lincolnshire musician Thomas Dixon in 1798 can be considered a proto-version of the tune.

The following ditties were sung during the dance, the first at Adderbury:

Shepherds' Hey, clover too,
Rye grass seeds and turnips too.

and at Bucknell:

One can whistle, two can play,
Three can dance the Shepherds' Hey.

Boston music publisher Elias Howe used the titles "Vexed Editor (The)" and "What You Please (3)" for the tune in his latter 19th century publications. Bayard (1981) points out that this tune resembles the first part of his Pennsylvania collected "Chase the Squirrel." The melody appears under the generic title "Scotch Reel" in the c. 1837-1840 MS of Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman], where it was probably employed as a country dance tune. See also note for "annotation:Hay."

Additional notes

Sources for notated versions: - George Hathaway, 1937, via Dr. Kenworthy Schofield [Bacon Bledington]; Blackwell & Giles, 1937 via Dr. Kenworthy Schofield [Bacon Brackley]: Robert Rolfe, 1951, via Peter Bentley and Rollo Woods [Bacon Bucknell]; A. Franklin, 1925, via Dr. Kenworthy Schofield [Bacon Fieldtown]; Leafield/Fieldtown fiddler Frank Butler [Sharpe].

Printed sources : - Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 109b, p. 45. Bacon (The Morris Ring), 1974; pp. 25, 30, 50, 61, 94, 104, 127, 150, 194, 209, 240, 264, 307. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; p. 117. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; p. 36 (Headington version). Mallinson (Mally’s Cotswold Morris Book vol. 2), 1988; Nos. 25, p. 14, No. 5 p. 4, No. 54 p. 26, No. 65, p. 31. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pp. 93 & 73. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; p. 42.

Recorded sources: -Carthage CGLP 4406, Hutchings et al - "Morris On" (1983/1972). Cottey Light Industries CLI-903, Dexter et al - "Over the Water" (1993).

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