Annotation:Boban John

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BOBAN JOHN. AKA and see "Bob and John," "Bob and Joan." AKA - "Bobbing John," "Bobbin John." Scottish, March (?, 3/2 time). G Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. Williamson (1976) says: "'Boban' or 'Bobbin John'... was a nickname for the Earl of Mar, a supporter of James Stuart, The Old Pretender. Mar had never been in the field before he raised James's standard at Castleton of Braemar on the 6th of September, 1715, and proclaimed James King of Scotland, England, France, Ireland, and so forth. The standard had been made by the Earl's Lady, and it was an extremely elegant job featuring pennants, sub-pennants, and mottos in blue , white, and other colours of silk. Unfortunately, when it was first erected, the ornamental ball on the top of the pole fell off. Many of Mar's mostly Highland troops interpreted this as an evil omen. Nevertheless, the Jacobite forces acquitted themselves well in many raids and skirmishes and won a near victory over George's Redcoats at the battle of Sherriffmuir. The Jacobites received much popular support from the people of Scotland and the north of England who were not enamoured of the political juggling that had placed George on the throne, but finally the highly disciplined Redcoats and experienced English generals defeated the Jacobites at the battle of Preston in Lancashire. James fled back to France, the leaders were executed, and the rebellion was quelled, for a time."

See also the cognate "Rob Shear'd in Her'st."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Gow (Complete Repository, Part 2), 1802; pp. 22-23. Petrie (A Fourth Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Jiggs and Country Dances), c. 1805. Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; p. 49.

Recorded sources:

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