Annotation:Disconsolate Sailor (The)

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DISCONSOLATE SAILOR. English, Jig. England, North-West. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. A duple-time tune by this name appears earliest in Preston’s New and Complete Instructions for the Hautboy(London, 1780, p. 19), and was used by Preston for later instrumental tutors for the clarinet and bassoon. It appears in Helpston musician John Clare's (1793-1864) manuscript, and in a few American musicians’ manuscript copybooks (e.g. Micah Hawkins, New York, 1794, and Eben Irving, Middletown, NY, 1796). A song called "The Disconsolate Sailor" was written by English composer Mr. George Saville Carey to music by James Hook, and published in London c. 1784. It begins:

When my money was gone that I gain'd in the wars

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Knowles (Northern Frisk), 1988; No. 102.

Recorded sources:




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