Annotation:Mile to Ride (A)
MILE TO RIDE, A. AKA and see “Fleet's a Coming (The)," "Heathery Foldy," "I had rather ride a mile than walk in dirt," "Press No Me," “Riding a Mile,” "Stannerton Hopping," "Stamfordham Hopping” Scottish, English, Irish; Slip Jig (9/8 time). England; Northumberland, Cumberland. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB.
The melody appears in London publisher Henry Playford's 1698 Dancing Master (Part II). "This tune has several titles by which it is known to pipers, such as 'Stannerton (or Stamfordham) Hopping', 'Stanhope i' Weardale' and 'The Fleet's a Coming'" (Bruce & Stokoe). As "The Fleet's a Coming" the melody was published in Robert Topliff's A Selection of the most popular Melodies of the Tyne and the Wear [1] (c. 1815, p. 38).
Northumbrian musician William Vickers printed the melody three times in his 1770 music manuscript collection (as “A Mile to Ride” [2], “Stanhope in Weardale,” and “Stannerton Hopping”).
The slip jig also appears in the 1800-1805 manuscript (as “A Mile to Ride”) of Northumbrian smallpiper John Peacock [3] (1754-1817), with variations, and that of 1812 from John Bell (c. 1864) (appears as “Stamfordham Hopping”). Early nineteenth century Northumbrian small-piper Lionel Winship included it in his music manuscript copybook. Multi-instrumentalist John Rook, of Waverton, near Wigton, Cumbria, included the melody in his large 1840 manuscript collection as "Heathery Foldy," and Manchester, England, musician John Roose included it in his mid-19th century music copybook as ""I had rather ride a mile than walk in dirt." Islay fiddler-composer biography:Alexander Mackay's A Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Slow Tunes (Glasgow, c. 1822) contains a version of the slip jig, but miss-barred in 6/8 time.
The tune is a popular three-part slip jig in Ireland, most often appearing under the title “Riding a Mile.”
