Annotation:Ale Wife and Her Barrel (The)

The melody appears in James Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion (1760) and Neil Stewart's 1761 collection (pg. 52). The title is also that of a country dance taught in a country dancing school as mentioned by MacTaggart in The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia (1824). Several British musicians' manuscripts contain the tune, including those of H.S.J. Jackson (1823, Wyresdale, Lancashire) and John Fife (c. 1780, Perth, Scotland), and it appears in the Durham manuscript under the title "Lord Lovell's Reel." Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs), vol. II, 1785; No. 72, pg. 27. Callaghan (Hardcore English), 2007; pg. 28.