British Field March

BRITISH FIELD MARCH. American, March (4/4 time). A Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune is sourced to the repertoire of fifer Quince Dillon, who said it was a British field march from the War of 1812. A relative, William Dillon, was a soldier and fifer in the American Revolutionary War. Quince himself served in both the Mexican War and American Civil War, and was an accomplished fiddler as well. His unit, the 166th Virginia Militia, was eventually incorporated into the 59th Virginia Infantry, which along with other Confederate units, was captured at the Battle of Roanoke Island, North Carolina on February 8, 1862. An apocryphal story about a prison camp fiddle contest is told about Quince (see notes for "Camp Chase"). Stacy Phillips (1995) notes the tune should actually be played slower than a breakdown.

Source for notated version: Skip Gorman and Mark Jardine with the Deseret String Band [Phillips].

Printed source: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; p. 26.

Recorded sources: Backshift BASH CD51, Chris Coe – "A Wiser Fool" (2001).

X: 1
T:British Field March
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:90
S:As played by Hookes Law learned from Janet Kerr
O:Quincy Dillion - (Fifer in the American Civil War)
Z:Johnny Adams -Village Music Project
K:Am
AB cd e2 a2 | ga ge dB GB | AB cd e2 a2 | g2 ^f2 e4 | 
AB cd e2 a2 | ga ge dB GB | g2 ge dB AG | EGAB A4 :||:
AB (3cBA BcdB | G2 Bc dB (G2 | G3)B cB AG | EGAB A4 | 
AB (3cBA BcdB | G2 Bc dB G2 | g3 e dBAG |  EGAB A4 :||