Annotation:I'm Ninety-Five
I'M NINETY-FIVE. AKA and see "Cockey Moor Snake (The)[1]," "Gisburn Processional," "Jean de Paris," "John of Paris," "Needles and Pins," "New School (The)," "Ninety-Five," "Old 95," "Old Ninety-Fifth (The)," "Pastoral Dance (2)." English; Air and March (6/8 time). F Major: C Major (Carlin). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB, AA'B (Carlin). What began as a comic song[2] was introduced as a march in the British Rifle Brigade, 95th Regiment, in 1842. This was the green-uniformed light infantry unit who carried Baker rifles in the Peninsular Campaign and at Waterloo, famously depicted in Bernard Cornwall's 'Sharpe' novels. The popular march was soon adopted by other units; the old 33rd Regiment of Foot prior to 1881 used the tune as a quick march, and the 53rd Foot in 1862 and continued to be used until 1914 whenever the Regiment had to march at the double.
The lyric [Roud 23116] was collected by Sabine Baring Gould in the 19th century and appears in Songs of the West, vol. 2 (No. 273, p. 289) derived from a comic broadside. It was also listed in Thomas Pearson's "Catalogue of Songs" (c. 1865, No.65). Morris musicians sing a version:
The girls go by and they wink one eye,
Will you marry? No, not I;
I'm ninety-five, I'm ninety-five,
And to stay single, I contrive.
The tune also entered morris dance tradition in England, particularly in the north (see alternate titles). It was collected by Maude Karpeles in the early 20th century in the village of Gisburn, Yorkshire, and has become known as "Gisburn Processional" [see: "The Lancashire Morris Dance, collected and edited by Maud Karpeles (London: Novello & Company) (1930)]. "Ninety-Five" was also used as an accompaniment for morris dancers in the Rush-cart procession at the village of Cheadle Wakes, Lancashire, and it was the vehicle for a Lancashire ballad (at the expense of two simple-minded colliers) called "The Cockey Moor Snake." See note for "annotation:John of Paris" for more on the origins of the popular tune, often used for comic songs. The tune was also entered in the mid-19th century music manuscript of William Winter (1774-1861), a shoemaker and violin player who lived in West Bagborough in Somerset, southwest England.
- ↑ A Lancashire ballad at the expense of two simple-minded colliers.
- ↑ "I'm Ninety-Five" was a the name of a comic song set to the air of "John of Paris/Jean de Paris" about an "old maid", who declares 'Love shall never conquer me', and announces (probably as the last verse): "I'm ninety-five, I'm ninety-five, And to keep single I'll contrive!".