Annotation:St. Thomas's Day

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X:1 T:St. Thomas's Day M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Country Dance B:Samuel, Ann & Peter Thompson - Compleat Collection of 200 B:Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5 (1788, p. 34) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A c2 (e/d/c/B/)|AGAB|c2 (e/d/c/B/)|AG A2:| |:ecdf|dBce|cAGA|(B/A/G/F/) E2| c2 (e/d/c/B)|AGAB|c2 (e/d/c/B/)|AG A2:|]



ST. THOMAS'S DAY. English, Country Dance Tune (2/4 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune is unique to London music publishers Samuel, Ann and Peter Thompson's Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5 (1788), a compendium of their smaller annual country dance issues of the years just prior. "St. Thomas's Day" was also entered in the mid-19th century music manuscript of William Winter (1774-1861), a shoemaker and violin player who lived in West Bagborough in Somerset, southwest England.

The Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle was established in the twelfth century, and in the Thompson's time it fell on December 21, the day of the winter solstice. Folk customs attached to the saint's day reflected both the occurrence of the solstice and the closeness of Christmas. ‘Thomasing’ was an annual visiting custom known throughout England. On St Thomas’s day poor people visited the houses of better-off neighbors requesting food or provisions to help them through the winter. Also known as ‘gooding’ or ‘mumping’, the earliest reference to the custom is John Stow’s Survey of London (1560). In many parts of England 'Thomasing' was accompanied by carol singing house to house, and December 21st in England is traditionally the day to begin caroling around towns and villages.


Additional notes



Printed sources : - Samuel, Ann & Peter Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5), 1788; p. 34. Geoff Woolfe (William Winter’s Quantocks Tune Book), 2007; No. 315, p. 112 (ms. originally dated 1850).






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