Bury Fair

 BURY FAIR. English, Country Dance Tune (2/2 time). F Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABCD (Sharp): AABBC (Barnes). "Bury Fair" first appears in Henry Playford's Dancing Master, 9th edition (London, 1698). It appeared in all subsequent editions of the Dancing Master through the eighteenth and last, published in 1728. The Walsh's also printed it in their Compleat Country Dancing Master volumes of 1718, 1731 and 1754. The melody was used as the vehicle for songs in a number of ballad operas of the early 18th century, including Polly (1729), The Wedding (1729), The Devil of a Duke, or Trapolin's Vagaries (1732), The Fashionable Lady, or Harlequin's Opera (1730), and Sancho at Court, or the Mock Governor (1748). It is one of the "lost tunes" of William Vickers' 1770 Northumbrian dance tune manuscript, and London musician Thomas Hammersley included it in his music copybook of c. 1790. Frank Kidson thought "Bury Fair" probably related to Bury St. Edmonds, which seems true, as that is the setting in Thomas Shadwell's comedy Bury Fair, produced in 1689 featuring the country bumpkin character Oldwit. Printed sources: Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909; p. 75.

X:1 T:Bury Fair M:2/2 L:1/8 S:Sharp - Country Dance Tunes (1909) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:F d2 | (c2A2) (A2F2) | (G4 C3) (d | c2 A2) (A2 GF | F6) d2 | (c2A2) (A2F2) | (G4 C3) (d | c2A2) (A2GF | F6) || (f2 | c2).f2.e2.f2 | (g2G2) G2 (f2 | c2) .f2 (efge | f6) f2 | c2f2e2f2 | g2G2G2(f2 | c2).f2 efge | f6 || c2 | (dcBA) (BAGF) | (GFED C2) c2 | (dcBA) (BAGF | F6) c2 | (dcBA) (BAGF) | (GFED C2) c2 | dcBA (BAGF | F6) || (f2 | c2) .f2.e2.f2 | (g2G2) G2 (f2 | c2).f2 (efge | f6) c2 | (dcBA) (BAGF) | (GFED C2)c2 | (dcBA) (BAGF | F6) ||

 '''© 1996-2010 Andrew Kuntz. All Rights Reserved.''' Engraver Valerio M. Pelliccioni