Annotation:Hermione (The)

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HERMIONE, THE. AKA and see "Harmonium (The)." English, Reel or Country Dance Tune (cut time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody is unique to London publisher Charles and Samuel Thompson's 1765 country dance collection. Hermione was the daughter of the Greek king Menelaus and his wife Helen, later abducted or eloped to become the famous Helen of Troy. There were British navy ships called the Hermione (famously one whose crew bloodily mutinied), but not prior to 1782. The melody appears in Northumbrian musician William Vickers' 1770 music manuscript collection as "The Harmonam" (Harmonium (The)).

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 2), 1765; No. 140.

Recorded sources:




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