Annotation:He Piped so Sweet
X: 1 T: Quoz T:He Piped so Sweet R: jig M: 6/8 L: 1/8 Z: 2012 John Chambers <jc:trillian.mit.edu> B: Saml. Ann & Peter Thompson "Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year 1791", London 1791, p.30 #2 F:http://www.john-chambers.us/~jc/music/book/DftY/1791/Thompson.abc K: G % - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - d |\ ded g2d | B2d G2A | B2B Bcd | dAA A2d | ded g2d | B2d G2A | B2d AGA | B2G HG2 :| B |\ e2f gaf | e2B B2^c | d2e fge | d2A A2B | =c2c edc | B2B dcB | a2a abg | f2d d2 "^D.C."|] % - - - - - - - - Dance description - - - - - - - - %%begintext align %% The 3 Ladies go round the 3 Gent: .|. %% the 3 Gent: go round the 3 Ladies :|. %% lead down the middle up again & cast off .|: %% hands 6 round :|: %%endtext
HE PIPED SO SWEET. AKA and see "Quoz." English, Air and Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "He piped so sweet" was a song composed by English songwriter and composer James Hook [1] (1746-1827) around the year 1790, and sung at Vauxhall and other London pleasure gardens. The song begins:
When rival lads and lasses gay,
Proclaimed the birth of rosy May,
When round the Maypole on the green,
The rustic dancers all were seen,
'Twas there young Jockey met my view,
His like before I never knew,
He piped so sweet and danced so gay,
Alas! He danced my heart away.
Chorus:
He piped so sweet, he piped so sweet,
He piped so sweet and danced so gay,
Alas, he stole my heart away,
Alas, he stole my heart away.
Moffat notes:
A Vauxhall song sung by a singer named Mrs. Iliff about the season of 1788. The melody is by James Hook, and his pretty little passage for the pipe towards the end of the song has been retained. Preston published the music in one of Hook's collections, and on sheet music, and the verses are in several songbooks of the period, including the New Vocal Enchantress for 1789.
Mrs. Iliff (or Iliffe), nee Palmer, was the daughter to Mrs. Palmer, housekeeper to the famous tragedienne, Mrs. Crawford, afterwards Mrs. Barry. She became the wife of Edward Henry Iliffe who played the Theatre Royal, Hay Market, who as a boy went to sea as a midshipman. On his return he obtained a post in the India House, but felt called to the stage. His first appearance was at the Brighton Theatre where he played as Mr. Williams. There he met a young actress, Miss Palmer, who had success in the Brighton, Sheffield and Edinburgh Theatres, and who sang at Vauxhall. In 1789 she was engaged at the Haymarket.
The melody is set as a country dance with directions for the figures in London publishers the Thompsons in Twenty Four Country Dances for 1791 under the title "Quoz." The title change is curious as "He Piped so Sweet" was published in 1788 in a Second Collection of Songs sung by Miss Leary, Miss Bertles, Miss Poole, Mrs. Stuart, Mrs. Iliffe & Mr. Incledon, at Vauxhall Gardens (by either Preston & Sons or the Thompsons), all songs the work of James Hook.
