Annotation:Punch-Bowl (The)
X:1 % T:Punch-Bowl, The M:3/4 L:1/8 R:Country Dance Tune B:Henry Playford - Dancing Master 11th edition (1701) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G G2 (G/A/B) (A>G)|E2 (E/F/G) DB,|d2 (ed) (e/f/g)|f4 f2| g2 efge|c2A2A2|a2 (b/a/)(g/f/) ed|d6:| a2 (a/g/f/e/) ga|b2 B2 B2|g2 (a/g/f/e/) Bd|d4 (e/f/g) (dB) (AG) (A/B/c)|GE DB, A,G,|d2 (e/d/c/B/) AG|G6||
PUNCH-BOWL, THE. English, Country Dance Tune (3/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The melody and dance instructions ("Longways for as many as will") were first published in the 11th edition of the Dancing Master, printed in London by Henry Playford. It was retained in the long-running series until the end, with with 18th and final edition of 1728, although by that time Playford had long relinquished the business to John Young. It was also published by rival music publisher John Walsh in his Compleat Country Dancing Master editions, beginning in 1718.
The word 'punch' derives from a Hindi word, patch, meaning 'five', because of its five ingredients: spirits, water, lemon-juice, sugar and spices. The word was first recorded in English in 1669. Punch was a favorite convivial libation of the hard-drinking 17th and 18th centuries, and, according to dance researcher Graham Christian (A Playford Assembly, 2015, p. 90) "became closely associated with the rising Whigs and the ascendancy of William and Mary." The punch bowl--not the huge bowls we think of today, but rater a large goblet or more moderately sized bowl--was an object found in most houses, and certainly a tavern staple.