Annotation:William and Nancy
X: 1 T:William and Nancy, Bledington M:6/8 L:1/8 A:Bledington P:A(AB)2(AC)2 K:G P:A |:D|G2G GBd|e2e dBG|A2d BAG|E2F G2:| P:B |:d|e2d B2d|gfe d2d|e2d B2d|gfe d2c| B2B Bcd|e2e dBG|A2d BAG|E2F G2:| P:C |:zd3|e3 d3|B3 d3|(2gf e3|d3 d3|e3 d3|B2d| gfe d2c|B2B Bcd|e2e dBG|A2d BAG|E2F G2:|]
WILLIAM AND NANCY. AKA and see "Old Woman Tossed Up (2)." English, Morris Dance Tune (6/8 time). F Major (Bacon): G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC. The tune is the vehicle for a handkerchief dance from the Bledington area of England's Cotswolds, and comes from the player of fiddler Charles Benfield (1841-1929), who accompanied the Bledington Morris. He was visited by Cecil Sharp in 1909 when he was aged 68 and ‘now living in Bould’ near Bledington, just over the border in Oxfordshire. Sharp collected several tunes from him, and he was subsequently visited by several folklorists, including by George Butterworth, who about the year 1912 noted "Ladies of Pleasure," "Trunkles" and "William and Nancy" from Benfield's playing. Benfield also ‘inherited’ a pipe and tabor from the renowned Sherborne and Northleach musician Jim ‘the laddie’ Simpson, who died from an overdose of alcohol in 1856[1]
