Annotation:Merry Milkmaids in Green (The)
X: 1 T:Merry Milkmaids in Green. (p)1651.PLFD.060 M:6/4 L:1/4 Q:3/4=90 S:Playford, Dancing Master,1st Ed.,1651. O:England H:1651. Z:Chris Partington. F:http://jc.tzo.net/~jc/music/book/Playford/MerryMerryMilkmaids_PLFD1651_060.abc K:C c|c>dc G2 g|e3-e2 c|c>dc G2 _B|A3-A2F| F3/2G/A/B/ c2 d| d>cB/2A/2 G2 g |e>fg d2 c| c3-c2:| |:c|e>fg g>ag|e>fg g>fe| f2 g a2 b |c'3- c'2 g| c'2g e>fg|a2fd>ef|g2 e c>de| d2 B G>AB|! c2c A>Bc | d2c B>AG| e>fg d2 c| c3-c3:|
MERRY MILKMAIDS IN GREEN, THE. AKA - "Merry, Merry Milkmaids (The)." English, Country Dance Tune (6/4 time). C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The tune was printed in the first edition of John Playford's English Country Dancing Master as "The Merry, Merry Milkmaids", and was retained in the long running series under that title through the 16th edition. The 17th and 18th editions of Dancing Master (printed in London by John Young) give the title as "The Merry Mildmaids in Green." Dean-Smith & Nicol describe it as a major mode, briskened version of the tune associated by tradition with Ophelia's songs "And will he not come again?", "Tomorrow it is St. Valentine's Day," "how should I my true love know," derivations from the old tune of "Walsingham"[1].
- ↑ Margaret Dean-Smith & E.J. Nicol, “The Dancing Master: 1651-1728: Part III. “Our Country Dances.” Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, vol. 4, No. 6 (Dec., 1945), pp. 217.