Annotation:Rope Dance (2)
X:1 T:Rope Dance [2] S:Joseph Kershaw manuscript (c. 1820's) M:6/8 L:1/8 K:G G|g2g gfe|d2d dcB|c2 c cec|B2d d2A| Bcd ABc|Bcd efg|fed Ad^c|dAF D2:| |:A|deg ged|cAA A2B|cde edc|BGG G2d| efg Bcd|FGA D2c|BAG cAF|G2G G2:|]
ROPE DANCE [2], THE. AKA and see "Quick Step 32nd Regiment," "Slack Rope Dance," "Sturgess's Hornpipe." English, Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. No relation to “Rope Dance (1)." The melody is contained in the Joseph Kershaw manuscript. Kershaw was a fiddler who lived in Slackcote, Saddleworth, North West England, in the 19th century, and his manuscript dates from around 1820 onwards. The tune under a similar title, "Slack Rope Dance," can be found in the mid-19th century music manuscript collection of biography:John Roose (Manchester, England). Kershaw's tune is a close variant of "Quick Step 32nd Regiment," printed in Glasgow musician James Aird's Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 1 (1782).
The variants can be traced to "Sturgess's Hornpipe," which, despite the title is a 6/8 time jig. It was printed by the Thompson's music publishing concern, London, in their Compleat Collection of 120 Favourite Hornpipes.
