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Annotation:French Taptoo
X:1 T:French Taptoo M:2/4 L:1/8 S:Aird, vol. II (1785) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G D | GBAG | d2 Bd | edcB | (A/G/)(A/B/) AD | GBAG | d2 Bd | edcB | A3 :| |: d | ec AB/c/ | d>BG>d | cBAG | (A/G/)(F/E/) D(B/c/) | .d(B/c/) .d(B/B/) | .c(A/B/) .c(d/c/) | B/A/G/A/ BA | G3 :||
FRENCH TAPTOO. French, March (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. 'Tattoo' = tattoo, a martial tune. Martial usage continued in the United States where it appears as "Canteen Call (The)" and "Old Drummer's Delight" in Boston publisher biography:Elias Howe's 1860's volumes. It is derived from the Bourree in George Frideric Handel's Water Music Suite 2, composed in 1717, which appears in Neil Stewart's “Select Collection of Scots, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, Jiggs & Marches” (1784, No. 41, p. 19) as "Air by Mr. Handel"
A taptoo was the signal that sent enlisted men to their quarters before the playing of 'taps', which was the signal to extinguish all lights in the camp.
