Annotation:Good Morning to Your Night Cap (2)
X:2 T:Good morrow to your night cap [2] M:2/4 L:1/8 Q:"This Tune may be played Slow" B:Gow - 2nd Collection of Niel Gow's Reels, 3rd ed., p. 36 (orig. 1788) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Bmin F|TB>cdB|F2 TF^G|ABcd|{c/d/}e2 Tdc|TB>cdB|F2 TFg|fedc|{c}B2B:| |:c|.c.cTdf|eeTef|ddTdf|ecAc|ddTd>f|eee>g|Tf>edc|{c}B2B:||
GOOD MORNING TO YOUR NIGHT CAP [2]. AKA - "Good morrow to your night cap." AKA and see "Drummer (1) (The)," "Good Morrow to Your Night Cap (2)," "Jack the Brisk Young Drummer," "Ladies' Pantalettes (1) (The)." Scottish, Country Dance Tune (2/4 time). A Minor (Harding's): G Dorian (Alexander): B Minor (Gow, Riley). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Alexander): AABB (Gow). "Good morrow to your nightcap [2]" was an air in William Shield's opera The Poor Soldier (1783), probably based on an existing Irish tune. The Gows included the melody in a section of country dances fashionable in Edinburgh in the 1787-88 season, and it is interesting to note that they included the direction "May by played slow", making it a more stately air. However, the tune was published several times prior to the Second Collection of Niel Gow's Reels (1788) by Robert Ross and James Aird in Scotland, and by the Thompsons in London under the title "Drummer (1) (The)." Why the Gows changed the title remains speculative. The melody (under the "Good Morning" title) also appears in the John Rook manuscript of 1840 ("Upwards of 1260 Airs...Waverton (Cumbria), written by the selector, for his amusement on the above instruments...").
Further, researcher Conor Ward points out the close relationship of "Good Morning to Your Night Cap [2]" and the Irish reel "Ladies' Pantalettes (1) (The)," which has a long history with many titles and variants in that country. Compare, for example, Alexander's version of "Good Morning to Your Night Cap [2]" and the untitled reel collected by artist and antiquarian wikipedia:George_Petrie_(antiquarian) (1790-1866) in County Clare from the playing of Frank Keane in 1856, and the cognate relationship between the tune families becomes apparent.
The second strain of "Good Morning to Your Night Cap [2]" is similar to that of "Good Morning to Your Night Cap (1)," but the first strains are less similar and perhaps not related at all.
See note for "annotation:Good Morning to Your Night Cap (1)" for explanation of the title.
