Annotation:Keach I' the Creel (The)

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 KEACH I' THE CREEL, THE. English, Air (2/4 time). England, Northumberland. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. "This old and very humorous ballad has long been a favourite on both sides of the Border, but had never appeared in print till about 1845, when a Northumbrian gentleman printed a few copies for private circulation, from which the above was taken. In former days, in the rural districts of Northumberland, courtship was secretly conducted; and often the only place of meeting was the 'maiden's bower'. A better state of things now generally prevails" (Bruce & Stokoe). The word keach or keech also means 'excrement' in Ulster and Scotland, as well as 'lift' or 'hoist'. A fair young May went up the street, Some white fish for to buy, And a bonny clerk's fa'n in luve wi' her, An' he's followed her by and by.  Source for notated version:  Printed sources: Bruce & Stokoe (Northumbrian Minstrelsy), 1882; pp. 82-84.  Recorded sources:

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