Annotation:Dumb Man of Manchester Reel

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DUMB MAN OF MANCHESTER REEL. English, Reel. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The Dumb Man of Manchester was a two-act melodrama by Barnabas F. Rayner, first staged at Astley's Amphitheatre, which centers around a mute individual charged with murder. It was first performed in 1837, revived with regularity during the Victorian era, and finally turned into a silent movie in 1908 (produced and directed by William Haggar, starring his son, Will Haggar Jr.). The tune given here may have been part of the performance, for an advertisement for The Dumb Man of Manchester at the Victoria in 1840 prominently announced 'The Celebrated Old English Morris Dance'.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Köhlers’ Violin Repository, Book 2, 1881-1885; p. 150.

Recorded sources:

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