Annotation:Boney in the Dumps
X:1 T:Boney in the Dumps M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig B:WM Cahusac - Annual Collection of Twenty Four Favorite Country Dances for the Year 1809, No. 24 (London) N:"With proper Directions to each Dance as they are performed at N:Court, Bath, and all Public Assemblies." Z:Transcribed and edited by Fynn Titford-Mock, 2007 Z:abc's:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Bb Bdf dcB|ceg edc|dfd BdB|cAF F3| Bdf DFB|EGB efg|fed cBA|B3 B3:| |:AcA FGA|Bdf fed|gfe dcB|cAF F3| G2B F2B|G2B F2e|dcB FGA|B3 B3:||
BONEY IN THE DUMPS. English, Jig. B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. While the title probably refers to Napoleon Bonaparte (Old Boney), who at the time of Cahusac's publication was beset by the rebellion in Spain and the disintegration of his alliance with Austria. It is possible that the title derives from the slang term 'Boney Dumps'; 'boney' was the name for coal that had more rock than coal in it, and was once sorted and discarded. One had to be poor indeed to go down to the boney dumps to try to pick out usable coal to bring home.
