Annotation:Dureling

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 DURELING. American (?), Jig. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody appears in the music manuscript of Henry Livingston, Jr., who purchased the estate of Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1771 at the age of 23. In 1775 he was a Major in the 3rd New York Regiment, which participated in Montgomery's invasion of Canada in a failed attempt to wrest Quebec from British control. An important land-owner in the Hudson Valley, and a member of the powerful Livingston family, Henry was also a surveyor and real estate speculator, an illustrator and map-maker, and a Justice of the Peace for Dutchess County. He was also a poet and musician, and presumably a dancer, as he was elected a Manager for the New York Assembly's dancing season of 1774-1775, along with his 3rd cousin, John Jay, later U.S. Chief Justice of Governor of New York. The tune, under this title, does not appear in contemporary British or American manuscripts or publications. An air in Charles Stuart's comic operaetta Gretna Green (London, 1783, Air 7, act i.) is directed to be sung to "Duraling", identified as an Italian melody. Stuart's work was a hit afterpiece at the Haymarket theatre during the 1780s and 90s.  Source for notated version:  Printed sources:  Recorded sources:

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