Annotation:Bushwick Reel
X:1 T:Bushwick Reel M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Reel C:M. Higgins B:Original Dances, Waltzes & Hornpipes for the Violin (1829, p. 4) B:Composed by M. Higgins. New York. Published by Firth & Hall, 1 Franklin Sq. Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Bb d/e/|f/g/f/g/ fb|f/g/f/g/ fb|d/f/b/f/ c/f/a/f/|d/b/a/g/ f/e/d/e/| f/g/f/g/ fb|f/g/f/g/ fb|d/f/b/f/ c/f/a/f/|bf/d/ B|| F/E/|D/F/F B/F/d/F/|C/F/F A/F/c/F/|D/F/B/F/ C/F/A/F/|D/F/B/d/ c/A/F/E/| D/F/F B/F/d/F/|C/F/F A/F/c/F/|D/F/B/D/ C/F/A/c/|BdB!D.C.!||
Bushwick was originally settled by the Dutch, joined later by Scandinavian, French and English farmers who produced food and tobacco for themselves and New York markets, sometimes with the assistance of slave labor. King's County (Brooklyn) was the largest slave holding county in the North, not abolished until 1827, just a few years before Higgins' publication. Dutch was the daily language until the 19th century, and Dutch and English were taught in the schools from 1758 to 1800, before giving way to English. In Higgins' time it was still rural, and before a large influx of German and Austrian immigrants that began in the 1840's.
