Annotation:Billy the Kid's
X:1 T:Billy the Kid's M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Sand Jig S:Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A A,2 ^G,2|z/3 A,/4(C/>.E/) A2|(B/>.A/)(G/>B/) (A/>.c/)(e/>.a/)|(3gfe (3dcB| (3AGF (3EDB,| z/3 A,/4(C/>.E/) A2|(B/>.A/)(G/>B/) (A/>.c/)(e/>.a/)|(3gfe (3dcB Az :| |: a/A/ z/a/ a/A/ z/a/ | a/>=g/(e/>.f/) g2|(3=G/B/d/ (g/>.a/) g2 |(3B/d/=g/ (a/>.b/) a2| a/A/ z/a/ a/A/ z/a/| a/>=g/(e/>.f/) g2|a/>f/=g/>e/ f/>de/>d/|B>ed>B A2:||
BILLY THE KID'S. American, Dance Tune. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune is listed in Cole and Kerr as a 'jig' or 'sand jig'--not the Irish jig, rather a type of mid-19th century banjo song to which a dance was performed. The sand jig is so-called because sand was sprinkled on the floor to facilitate some of the movements of the dance, which involved in part lightly brushing the foot on the floor. The title may not refer to the famous Wild West outlaw who died in Arizona in July, 1881 (born Henry McCarty, alias Kid Antrim, alias William H. Bonney), for whole Billy the Kid was the sobriquet. However it is possible; prior to his death "Billy the Kid" had already become a nationally known figure whose exploits, real and imaginary, were reported in the National Police Gazette and the large newspapers of the eastern United States. After his death (two years prior to the tune's appearance in Ryan's Mammoth Collection) all of New York City's papers ran his obituary, and within days, newspapers around the United States were printing exaggerated and romanticized accounts of Billy the Kid's short career.