Annotation:Shaking of the Sheets (2) (The)
X:1 T:Shaking of the Sheets [2], The M:6/4 L:1/8 S:Playford - The Dancing Master (1651) S:Chappell – Popular Music of the Olden Time (1859) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G A2|B4 G2 d4 B2|G4 D2G2 B4|A4 c2 B3A G2|G3F G2 A4 A2| B4G2 d4B2|G4 D2 G2B4|A4 c2 B3A G2|F2A2B2 c4|| d2|e4 c2 d4 c2|B3A G2 A4 D2|G4 F2 G4 D2|B3A G2 A4 A2| e4 c2 d4 c2|B3A G2 A4 D2|G4 F2 G4 D2|B2 A4 G6||
SHAKING OF THE SHEETS [2], THE. AKA and see "Dance after My Pipe," "Nightpiece (The)." English, Country Dance Tune (6/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB, AABB or One part. This version of the air, which supplanted the earlier "Shaking of the Sheets (1) (The)" by the mid-seventeenth century, appears in London music publisher John Playford's English Dancing Master (1651), where "The Nightpiece" given as the primary title and "Shaking of the Sheets" as the alternate. Chappell (1859) says the 17th century tune became very popular and "was still in favour in 1783, when it appeared in a publication called The Vocal Enchantress." It's popularity may be attributed to its association with weddings in the 18th century, for the guests of the wedding party were known to have led the bride and groom to the bridal chamber dancing to the melody, no doubt enjoying the bawdy inference of the title.