Annotation:Robin Hood's Dance

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X:1 % T:Robin Hood's Dance before the Queen M:6/8 L:1/8 B:Ravenscroft - Pamellia (1609) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Gmin G>AB A>Bc|B>AG =F2F|B2B c2c|d3 d3|| d>ed c>BA|B>AG F>GA|B2G ^F>=EF|G3 G3||

ROBIN HOOD'S DANCE. AKA - "Robin Hood's Dance before the Queen." English, Air (6/8 time). A Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. The melody was printed in Oamelia Musicks Miscellanie, or, Mixed Varietie of Pleasant Roundelays, and Delightfull Catches, of three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten parts in one, &c. (London, 1609), whose contents are generally attributed to Thomas Ravenscroft. It appears under the title "A Round for three Country-Dances in one" with the following words:

Robin Hood, Robin Hood, said Little John,
Come dance before the queene-a:
In a red petticote, and a greene jacket,
A white hose and a greene-a.

Rimbault gave it the title "Robin Hood's Dance before the Queen" based on the associated verses, although he believed it to be a dance tune rather than a ballad air.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : - Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 15.

Recorded sources: - Michael Raven & Joan Mills - "Death and the Lady."

See also listing at:
Hear the tune on fiddle, viola, mandolin and bells [1]