Annotation:See the Conquering Hero comes

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X:1 T:See the Conquering Hero comes M:C L:1/8 R:March B:James Aird – Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 3 (Glasgow, 1788, No. 521, p. 199) N:”Humbly dedicated to the Volunteers and Defensive Bands of Great Britain and Ireland” Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G d4 B3c|d4G4|(AB)(cd) c2B2|B4 {AB}A4| (Bc)(de) d2d2|g4 d4|(cB)(AG) A4 {GA}|G6:| |:(BA)(Bc) B2B2|A4 G2 AB|c2B2A2G2|G4 F4| BABc B2B2|e4 T^c4{Bc}|d2 ed T^c3( B/c/)|d4!D.C.!:|]

SEE THE CONQUERING HERO COMES. English, Scottish; March (cut time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABA. Composed by the renowned composer George Fredrick Handel [1] (1685-1759), although not, as popular belief would have it, for the Duke of Cumberland, the king’s son and the victor at battle of Culloden (1745). It was written for Handel's oratorio Joshua (1748), but was later inserted into performances of the more popular three-act oratorio Judas Maccabaeus (1746) which was written to celebrate the victory at Culloden. Then English army soon adopted it, though for different reasons than either Culloden or Cumberland (Winstock, 1970). Cumberland was called “Butcher Cumberland” by the vanquished Scots, for his vigorous suppressing of the rebellion and harsh aftermath.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - the 1823-26 music mss of papermaker and musician Joshua Gibbons (1778-1871, of Tealby, near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire Wolds) [Sumner].

Printed sources : - James Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 3), Glasgow, 1788, No. 521, p. 199. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 4), c. 1880's; No. 373, p. 40. Manson (Hamilton’s Universal Tune Book vol. 1), 1854; p. 121. Sumner (Lincolnshire Collections, vol. 1: The Joshua Gibbons Manuscript), 1997; p. 85(appears as “Conquering Hero,” originally set in the key of ‘C’ major in the ms.). Trim (The Musical Legacy of Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 61.

Recorded sources: -

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