Annotation:Newcastle (1)

Back to Newcastle (1)

X:1 T:Newcastle [1] M:4/4 L:1/4 Q:200 H:Simpson feels that the surviving tune is not the one which had some H:currency in Elizabethan days. He points out that wrenchings of accent H:are necessary to accomplish the fit of Playford's dance tune to a H:curious fragment of text found in the 18th century Percy folio MS, a H:source of dubious authenticity itself. H:Came you not from H:Newcastle? H:Came yee not there away? &c H:It is quite possible that H:this dance was inspired by William, Duke of Newcastle, a royalist who H:remained in London and bent his interests towards the theatre during H:the interregnum. K:G BdGA|G>AGD|BdGd|eg2 f/2e/2|dBAG|Ee2 d/2c/2|dBA>G|1 G4:|2 G3 e/2f/2|| L:1/8 gfed g3B|A2 g4 A2|G3A B2F2|E2 e4 f2|gfed g3B|A2A2 c3d|e2B2 A3G|G8||

NEWCASTLE [1]. AKA and see "Come You Not from Newcastle?" English; Country Dance Tune (2/2 time). G Major (most versions): F Major (Chappell). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Chappell): AABB (most versions). The air was published by John Playford (1623-1686) in the first edition of his English Dancing Master [1] (1651, p. 77), where it was the tune for a special country dance, a "round for 4 couples". "Newcastle" appears in all subsequent editions of the Dancing Master through the 8th edition of 1690, after which it was dropped. The English city of Newcastle is in Northumberland, near the border with Scotland.

Keith Whitlock suggests "Newcastle" referenced William Cavendish (1592-1676), the Earl of Newcastle^[1], and that Playford's dance figures "suggest a professional choreographer or dance master. Newcastle ended up in exile and his property confiscated after the defeat of the Royalists.^[2]. Today, "Newcastle" is a popular melody with early music groups. The Newcastle dance most often seen in modern times is from Cecil Sharp in the 2nd volume of the Country Dance Book in 1911, altered by Sharp in the 6th book of the Country Dance Book in 1922.

Additional notes

Printed sources : - Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Times), vol. 1, 1859; p. 188. Fleming-Williams & Shaw (English Dance Airs; Popular Selection, Book 1), 1965; p. 5. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician No. 14: Songs, Airs and Dances of the 18th Century), 1997; p. 14. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; p. 11. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 23 & 45. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1994; p. 16.

Recorded sources : - Amon Ra CDSAR 28, The Broadside Band – “John Playford’s Popular Tunes” (recorded 1952-1961). Dorian 90238, The Baltimore Consort - "A Trip to Killburn." Dorian Sono Luminus, "The Baltimore Consort Live in Concert" (2010). Harmonia Mundi, Jeremy Barlow and The Broadside Band - "John Playford: Popular Tunes in 17th Century England" (1984). Saydisc CDSDL449, The Broadside Band - "Traditional Dance Music of Britain & Ireland" (2018).

See also listing at :
See the dance performed on youtube.com [2]

Back to Newcastle (1)

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↑ Cavendish entertained King Charles I at Welbeck in 1633 and Bolsover the next year, and nearly bankrupted himself in so doing. Ben Jonson wrote the entertainment, with music provided by William Lawes.
↑ Keith Whitlock, “John Playford’s English Dancing Master 1650/51 as Cultural Politics”, Folk Music Journal, vol. 7, No. 5, 1999, p. 569.

[1] Cavendish entertained King Charles I at Welbeck in 1633 and Bolsover the next year, and nearly bankrupted himself in so doing. Ben Jonson wrote the entertainment, with music provided by William Lawes.

[2] Keith Whitlock, “John Playford’s English Dancing Master 1650/51 as Cultural Politics”, Folk Music Journal, vol. 7, No. 5, 1999, p. 569.

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