Annotation:Grimstock

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 GRIMSTOCK. English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). G Major (Merryweather, Raven): A Major (Barnes, Sharp). Standard tuning. AABB (Barnes): AA'BB (Merryweather, Raven). The tune was published by John Playford in his 1651 edition of The English Dancing Master (and retained through the 8th edition of 1690), although it first seems to have appeared as a lute piece in the 16th century. The 'A' strain appears early in print in Michael Praetorius's Terpsichore (1612). During the time of the English civil war the Royalist Playford was forced to go into hiding from the Roundheads for a year or more just before this first edition of the Dancing Master was printed, fearing prosecution for a treasonable offence in which he and some friends published some tracts describing the execution of Charles I. There is a Grimstock Hill, a Romano-British temple site, in the West Midlands near Coleshill, Birmingham, but it is not known whether there is a connection with the tune.  Source for notated version:  Printed sources: Barlow (Complete Country Dance Tunes from Playford's Dancing Master), 1985; No. 32, p. 23. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Merryweather (Tunes for the English Bagpipe), 1989; p. 38. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 38. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909; p. 20.  Recorded sources: Harmonia Mundi 907101, The King's Noyse - "The King's Delight: 17c. Ballads for Voice and Violin Band" (1992).  See also listing at: Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources

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