Annotation:Grinder (The)
X:1 T:Grinder, The M:9/8 L:1/8 R:Slip Jig B:O'Flannagan - The Hibernia Collection (Boston, 1860, p. 4) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G d|gfg edc B2G|gfg efg a2f|gfg edc d2B|GGG GAB d2B:| |:AAA A2B G3|ABA ABc d2B|AAA A2B GAB|gfg edc B2G:|]
GRINDER(S), THE. AKA - "Tobias the Grinder." AKA and see "Grenadiers (The)," "Terry Heigh Ho the Grinder (1)." Irish, Scottish, English; (Slip) Jig (9/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Grinder = one who grinds, i.e. the individual who is tasked with not only grinding grain, but other food preparation tasks as well, including preparing grain for the production of spirits. Kerr labels the tune an "Irish Jig," although it has a long history in England, where it appears in numerous 19th century musicians' manuscript collections, including that of Ellis Knowles and Joshua Gibbons (for whom see below), William Calvert (Leyburn, west Yorkshire, 1812), John Clare (Helpston, Northants, 1820), William Clarke (Feltwell, Norfolk, 1858), the Welch family, Rev. Robert Harrison (Brampton, Cumbria, 1820), James Winder (Wyresdale, Lancashire, 1835), William Vickers (Northumberland, 1770), and the Thomas Hardy family (Dorset, early 19th c.). Vickers title is "Our Bride is No Maid (1)," while Hardy has it as "Grenediers (The)" (which is either a corruption of 'Grinder' or vice-versa) and Winder as "Tobias the Grinder"). Early printings were in Wilson's Companion to the Ball Room (1816) and Andrews' Complete Instructions for the Fife (London, 1808). In America it appears in the 1808-1818 copybook of Josiah Adams (Framingham, Mass.). Kennedy and O'Flannagan's printings have the parts reversed from Levey, as does Northumbrian musician William Vickers' Our Bride is No Maid (1)," whose first strain is cognate with the second strain of "The Grinder."
See also note for "annotation:Pas Seul (3)" for the tune in a Scottish context.
