Annotation:Old Mother Oxford
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OLD MOTHER OXFORD. AKA and see "Old Molly Oxford (1)," "Steeple Claydon." English, Morris Dance Tune (2/4 time, with an irregular measure in the 'C' part in some versions). England, Oxfordshire. G Major (most versions): D Major (Spadaro). Standard tuning (fiddle). ABC (Raven, et al.): ABCBCBC (Bacon, Mallinson): ABBC (Spadaro). Collected from the village of Headington, Oxfordshire, in England's Cotswold region. Michael Cooney reports the melody has been suggested as a relative of the famous American hoe-down "Turkey in the Straw."
Source for notated version: William Kimber (1872–1961) {Headington, Oxfordshire}, via Cecil Sharpe [Williamson].
Printed sources:
Bacon (A Handbook of Morris Dances), 1974; pp. 194, 301.
Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; p. 35.
Mallinson (Mally's Cotswold Morris Book, vol. 2), 1988; No. 50, p. 25.
Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 75.
Spadaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; p. 6 (appears as "Old Molly Oxford").
Williamson (English, Welsh, Scotch and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; p. 16.
Recorded sources:
EFDSS LP 1001, "William Kimber" (1963).
Topic Records 12T249, "The Art of William Kimber" (1974).
See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]