Annotation:Scotch Union
X:1 T:Scotch Union M:6/8 L:1/8 N:In 6/8 time in the Dancing Master, but probably should be in 9/8 time. R: Young – Second Volume of the Dancing Master, 1st edition (1710, p. 82) K:D f/g/|:afd afd|g>fe afd|afd ecA:| |: d>ed f>ef|g>fe d>ef|f>ef ecA:|] P:Re-barred as 9/8 M:9/8 L:1/8 f/g/|:afd afd g>fe| afd afd ecA:| |: d>ed f>ef g>fe |d>ef f>ef ecA:|]
SCOTCH UNION. English, Country Dance Tune (6/8, 9/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune was published in all four editions of London publisher John Young's Second Volume of the Dancing Master (c. 1710-1728). It also appears in all editions of John Walsh's Second Book of the Compleat Country Dancing-Master (1719, 1735 & 1749) and in his New Country Dancing Master. . . 2d Book (1710). Prior to 1707 England and Scotland were separate countries, sharing the same monarch. The Acts of Union, passed by the English legislature in 1706 and the Scottish legislature in 1707, united the two into one country, Great Britain. On May 1st, 1707, the English and Scottish Parliaments first met as one in the Palace of Westminster, London. There are other titles in the later Dancing Master volumes that relate to Union, including "Union (The)," "Union Jigg" and "Confederacy (2)."
Young's melody makes more sense barred in 9/8 time rather than 6/8, as printed in the Dancing Master.