Annotation:Great Eastern Polka (The)
X:1 T:Great Eastern Polka, The M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Polka S:Breathnach - CRÉ V, No. 108 K:G B/c/ | d/B/G/g/ fe | A/B/c/A/ BG | E/F/G/E/ F/G/A/F/ | G/A/B/c/ d^c | d/B/G/g/ fe | A/B/c/A/ BG | E/F/G/E? F/G/A/F/ | GB G :| K:D F/G/ | A/^G/A/d/ cB | {d}c/B/A/g/ fe | {g}f/e/f/d/ Be | {d}c/B/c/A/ fd | {B}A/^G/A/d/ cB | {d}c/B/A/g/ fe | {g}f/e/f/d/ Be | {d}c/B/c/A/ d :||
GREAT EASTERN POLKA. English, Irish; Polka. G Major ('A' part) & D Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The composition is attributed to C. Coote Junr. by Trim. Charles Coote, Junior, was a Victorian-era British composer of light music and dance tunes, including the "Corn Flower Waltz," the "Bric a Brac Polka" and other generally forgettable melodies. However, the British Library orchestral and piano arrangements credit his father, Charles Coote Sr., as composer.
The title 'Great Eastern' probably honors one of three great transatlantic steamships designed by Isambad Kingdom Brunel (whose father was Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, 1769-1849, a French-born engineer resident in England after the Revolution who constructed the first tunnel under the Thames, still in use today as part of the London Underground). The Great Eastern was launched in 1858, and, in part because of its gigantic size, laid some of the first transatlantic cables in 1866. She ended her life as a floating Music Hall and was scrapped in 1888-1889.
