Hello! Ask me (almost) anything about traditional music.
Annotation:Bonnets so Blue (1)
X: 1 T:Hurra For The Bonnets of Blue. BF12.28 M:6/8 L:1/8 C:Browne "C" hand S:MS12,c1835,Browne Coll.,Lakes R:Jig O:England A:Lakes N:Key signature is given as D flat on second line down, A flat in 3rd N:space down. *.Lower part of bottom stave is missing, so note lengths N:in N:last 5 bars and last 4 notes are guesswork. Z:vmp.Cherri Graebe. F:http://john-chambers.us/~jc/music/abc/mirror/terra.es/personal8/niltoni/h.abc K:Bb major D|BcB (def)|FGF FGA|B2g fdB|(c3c2)F|! BcB (def)|FGF F2g|fed cBc|(B3B2):|! |:B|(ABc) (cdc)|(F3 F2)B|(ABc) (cd=e)|f3f2e|! dcd BGA|B2cd2g|(gec) (BcA)|(G3G2)F|! BcB"*" dfd|(B3B2)F|B2g gdB|(c3c2)e|! dcd Bcd|(efg)f2g|fed c2c|(B3B2)||
BONNETS SO BLUE [1]. AKA – "Bonnets o' Blue (2)," "Ould Dart (The)." English; Country and Morris Dance Tune (6/8 time). G Major (Carlin, Mallinson, Wade): D Major (Karpeles, Kennedy & Raven): C Major (Bacon, Barnes). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Carlin): AAB (Raven, Wade): ABC (Barnes, Sharp): AABC (Karpeles & Kennedy): ABCBC (Bacon, Mallinson). The Cotswold morris version is from the village Bucknell, Oxfordshire, area of England (a similar tune was collected in Brackley, Northampton) area of England, where it is a solo jig dance. Wade's version is from the North West (England) morris tradition and is used for either polka or single step. The author of English Folk-Song and Dance found the melody in the repertoire of fiddler William Tilbury (who lived at Pitch Place, midway between Churt and Thursley in Surrey), who used, in his younger days, to play the fiddle at village dances. He learned his repertoire from an uncle, Fiddler Hammond, who died around 1870, and who had been the village fiddler before him. The conclusion was that "Bonnets of Blue" and similar old country dance tunes survived in the tradition (at least in southwest Surrey) well into the second half of the 19th century. "Bonnets of Blue" was also entered in the mid-19th century music manuscript of William Winter, a shoemaker and violin player who lived in West Bagborough in Somerset, southwest England.
