Annotation:Spring Glee

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X:1 T: Spring Glee M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Air/Jig K:G G2A|B2B BAG|c2c c2B|AAA d2c |B2A G3| G2A B2B|BAG c2d |e3 edc|B2G A2F|G3:| G2B|d3 e2c|d3-d2 B|d3 edc|d3-d2c| B2B BAG|c2c c2B|AAA d2c |B2A G3| G2A B2B|BAG c2d|e3 edc|B2G AGF|G3||



SPRING GLEE. AKA - "When Spring Comes In/On." English, Air and Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The first couple of stanzas of the song [Roud 439] go:

When Spring comes on, the birds do sing,
The lambs do skip and the bells do ring,
While we enjoy their glorious charm,
So noble and so gay.

The primrose blooms and the cowslip, too.
The violets in their sweet retire,
The roses shining through the briar,
And the daffa-down dillys which we admire
Will die and fade away.[1]

The song was collected in Sussex from the singing of George Townsend in 1960 as "When Spring Comes In", one of the first songs he learned from his father, "and the first he sang in public, back on the 29th of September in The Jolly Sportsman"[2]. "The tune of this song is a version of "Malbrook/Malbrouck s'en va-t-en guerre—a" widespread tune which is also the forerunner of "For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow" and "We Won't Go Home 'Til Morning"."[3] The "Spring Glee" title for the song comes from Sam Bennett of Ilmington, Warwickshire, collected from his singing by Peter Kennedy in 1950; Kennedy, in turn, may have influenced the Copper family to use the name in their 1960's recordings.


Additional notes



Printed sources : - Carlin (Master Collection of Dance Music for the Violin), 1984; No. 15, p. 22.

Recorded sources : - EFDSS LP 1002/Veteran FLED3097, Bob and Ron Copper - "Traditional Songs from Rottingdean" (1963).




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  1. http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiSPRGLEE.html
  2. Notes to Musical Traditions anthology "Come, Hand to Me the Glass", 2012 reissue.
  3. ibid.