ATHOLE VOLUNTEERS MARCH. Scottish, March. F Major. Standard. AAB. Composed by Niel Gow. There is some similarity in this tune to "Staten Island Hornpipe." Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 584. Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 352.
HASTE TO THE WEDDING [1] (Brostuig Go Dti An Posad). AKA and see "Carrickfergus," "Come, Haste to the Wedding," "Rural Felictiy," "The Long Eight," "Perry's Victory" (American), "Footprints," "Granny Plays the Fiddle," "Trip to the Dargle," "A Trip to the Gargle," "Let Brainspinning Swains," "The Small Pin Cushion." British Isles, New England, American, Canadian, Old-Time (fiddlers in the Appalachians seldom knew or played jigs - when they did this tune was one of the most frequently played.); Jig, Country Dance, Long Dance (Irish), Morris Dance Tune, or Quadrille (meaning 6/8 tunes from Midwestern USA). D Major (most versions): C Major (Harding's, Sharp): F Major (Bacon-Adderbury): G Major (Bacon-Brackley): A Major (Cranford). Standard. AB (Bacon-Adderbury, Bayard, Harding, Kerr): ABB, x4 (Bacon, Mallinson): AABB (most versions): AA'BB' (Cranford): ABCD (Bayard {Marr}). "The tune 'Come, Haste to the Wedding,' of Gaelic origin, was introduced in the pantomime, The Elopement, in 1767. This version is known as the Manx tune and was printed by the Percy Society in 1846. It is the basis of the Manx ballad, 'The Capture of Carrickfergusby,' written by Thurot in 1760" (Linscott, 1939). Samuel Bayard (1944, 1981) comments on the popularity of the air over the past two centuries as well as the tenacity of the main title to stick with the tune. When Chappell printed his well-known set in National English Airs (1840, I, No. 163; notes, II, 129; reprinted in JEFDSS, III, 210.), he traced the tune to the year 1767, when it was used in pantomime, to a song beginning 'Come, haste to the wedding, ye friends and ye neighbors!' This version of the air, continues Bayard, is still the earliest known, and it may be that the popularity of the song occasioned the fixed quality of the title. In his 1944 work Bayard posses the question as to whether the words were included in the original pantomime as a result of its associations, or whether the later uses of the tune secured it.
***
If it at first achieved popularity as a stage piece, it was soon after quickly disseminated, entering folk tradition. Chappell noted that the tune was "more frequently to be heard upon the chimes of country churches than any other, and usually played when a wedding is about to take place." Caoimhin Mac Aoidh (1994) reports that in County Donegal tradition a bride was 'hauled' (marched) from her house to the chapel along with her family and guests, led by a fiddler playing this tune. Morris dancers picked up the melody and morris dance versions have been collected from the villages of Adderbury (Oxfordshiere), Brackley (Northamptonshire), and Headington (Oxfordshire) in England's Cotswolds. The author of "English Folk-Song and Dance" found the melody in the repertoire of fiddler William Tilbury (who lived at Pitch Place, midway between Churt and Tilbury in Surrey), who used, in younger days, to play at village dances. Tilbury learned his repertoire from an uncle, Fiddler Hammond, who died around 1870 and who had been the village fiddler before him. The conclusion was that "Haste to the Wedding" and other country dance tune of similar type had survived in English tradition (at least in southwest Surrey) well into the second half of the 19th century. In southern Ireland "Haste" is often the first tune played in a set (along with "Leslie's Hornpipe" and "The German Beau") for the set dance The Three Tunes, which dates to the ceili dance revival of the 1930's.
***
In America the piece was printed by Burchenal under the title "Green Mountain Volunteers" along with a New England contra dance by the same name. It was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's, and also was recorded by Herbert Halpert for the same institution in 1939 from the playing of a Lauderdale County, Mississippi, fiddler named Stephen B. Tucker. The title appears in a list of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham's repertoire (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's) and it was a favorite dance tune in western New York at the turn of the century (according to Bronner's source, Milo Kouf). As "Hasten to the Wedding" it was mentioned in an account of a fiddlers' convention at the Pike County Fairgrounds in the Troy Herald of July 6th, 1926. Winston Wilkinson ("Virginia Dance Tunes," Southern Folklore Quarterly, VI, 1, March, 1942) calls it "one of the best-loved tunes in Virginia." He collected it from Albermarle County fiddler James H. "Uncle Jim" Chisholm, who had played it and other tunes in the 1930's at the White House for President and Mrs. Roosevelt.
***
An odd alternate title called "A Trip to the Gargle" appears in O'Neill's 1001 Gems (probably a corruption of "A Trip to the Dargle") while as "Carrickfergus" it appears in Brysson's A Curious Selection of Favourite Tunes with Variations to which is appended Fifty Favourite Irish Airs (Edinburgh, 1790). The classical composer Camille Saint Saens used "Haste to the Wedding" in his opera Henry VIII, and John Powell employed a variant he collected from Mrs. John Hunter, a Virginia fiddler, in the last movement of his symphonic composition Set of Three (Wilkinson). The English novelist Thomas Hardy, himself an accordion player and fiddler, mentions "Haste to the Wedding" in Under the Greenwood Tree, as one of the tunes the wedding-guests danced to after the marriage of Dick and Fancy.
***
Sources for notated versions: Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) [Christeson]: Smith Paine (Wolfeboro, N.H.) [Linscott, 1939]: Candace Woltz [Phillips]: Emery Martin, Dunbar, Pennslyvania, October 14, 1943 (learned from his father) [Bayard]; Milo Jouf, 1877 (New York State; learned from his father) [Bronner]; James Marr (elderly fidder from Missouri, 1949), and 21 southwestern Pa. fiddlers and fifers [Bayard]; Mrs. Ben Scott (Turlock, California) [Kaufman]; Blackwell via Dr. Kenworthy Schofield [Bacon]; Jehile Kirkhuff (Pa.) [Phillips/1995]; fiddler Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ottawa Valley, Ontario) [Begin]. Adam, No. 15. Allan's Irish Fiddler, No. 15, pg. 5. The American Veteran Fifer, 1927; No. 49. Bacon (The Morris Ring), 1974; pgs. 12, 107, 189. Bayard (Hill Country Tunes), 1944; No. 22. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; Appendix No. 33, pgs. 585-586, and No. 447, pgs. 420-428. Begin (Fiddle Music from the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 61, pg. 70. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 131. R.P. Bronner (Old Tyme Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 1, pg. 10. Burchenal (Rinnci na h-Eireann), pg. 104. Burchenal (American Country Dances, Vol. 1), 1918; pg. 42. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 121. Cole, 1940; pg. 53. Cranford (Jerry Holland's), 1995; No. 198, pg. 57. DeVille, No. 61. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 53. Hardings All Round Collection, 1905; No. 190, pg. 60. Hardings Original Collection, 1928; No. 8. Jarman (The Cornhuskers Book of Square Dance Tunes), 1944; pg. 13. JEFDSS, III, 208 (from a fiddler's book formerly the property of Thomas Hardy's father), 210 (see Bayard's note). JFSS, VIII, 220, 221 (a Manx vocal set). Jigs and Reels, pg. 22. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 8 (altered version appearing as "The Long Eight"). Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; pg. 46. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 81, pg. 40. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 4, pg. 27. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 86. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 88 (appears as "Come, Haste to the Wedding"). MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 168. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddlers Repertoire), 1983; No. 30. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 19, pg. 122. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 49. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 987, pg. 184. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 203, pg. 48. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 25. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 367. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 102. Robbins, No. 5. Roche Collection, 1983, Vol. 2; No. 291, pg. 37 (listed as a Long Dance). Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 5, pg. 4. Saar, No. 44. Seventy Good Old Dances, pg. 6, No. 6. Sharp and Macilwaine, Morris Dance Tunes, pgs. 10-11 (as a handkerchief dance). Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909/1994; pg. 10. Southern Folklore Quarterly, VI, pg. 8 (Wilkinson- "Virginia Dance Tunes"). Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 45. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 145. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 24. Thomas and Leeder (The Singin' Gatherin'), 1939; pg. 63 (appears as a waltz, "Footprints"). Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 1. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Vol. 1), 1999; pg. 30. White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pg. 76. Antilles (Island) AN-7003, Kirkpatrick & Hutchings - "The Compleat Dancing Master" (1974). Edison 50653 (78 RPM), John H. Kimmel (accordion player from N.Y.C.), 1920. F&W Records 4, "The Canterbury Country Orchestra Meets the F&W String Band." Folkways FG 3531, Jean Carignan- "Old Time Fiddle Tunes." Folkways 8826, Per's Four--"Jigs and Reels." Front Hall 01, Fennigs All Stars- "The Hammered Dulcimer." Gennett 6088 (78 RPM), Uncle Steve Hubbard and His Boys (New England?), c. 1928. June Appal JA 029, Guy Carawan - "Jubilee" (1979). Library of Congress AFS L62, "American Fiddle Tunes." North Star NS0038, "The Village Green: Dance Music of Old Sturbridge Village." Rounder Records, "Jerry Holland" (1976). Victor 19940 (78 RPM), Mellie Dunham, 1926 (appears under the title "Mountain Rangers"). Voyager VRCD 344, Howard Marshall & John Williams - "Fiddling Missouri" (1999. Learned from Missouri fiddling tradition).
X:1
T:Haste to the Wedding
L:1/8
M:6/8
B:Sharp - Morris Dance Tunes
K:D
DFA A2f|ede fdB|ABA AGF|GFG E2F|DFA A2f|ede fdB|AFA faf|ded d3:|
|:afa agf|gfg bag|fga agf|gfg efg|a3 f3|ede fdB|AFA faf|ded d3:|
X:2
T:Haste to the Wedding
L:1/8
M:6/8
K:D
DFA A2f|ede fdB|ABA AGF|GFG E2F|DFA A2f|ede fdB|AFA faf|ded d3:|
|:afa agf|gfg bag|fga agf|gfg efg|a3 f3|ede fdB|AFA faf|ded d3:|
X:3
T:Haste to the Wedding
L:1/8
M:6/8
R:Country Dance
B:The Athole Collection
K:D
B|AFA Aaf|ede fdB|AFA AdF|EFE E2A|AFA Aaf|ede fdB|AFA faf|ddd d2:|
|:f/g/|faf faf|bgb bgb|afa agf|efe e2f/g/|a3 f3|ede fdB|AFA faf|ded d2:|
PERTHSHIRE VOLUNTEERS. Scottish, Strathspey or Highland Schottische. A Major. Standard. AB (Kerr): AAB (Athole, Glen, Gow, Skye). According to Keith MacDonald's Skye Collection the melody was composed by one "Miss Sterling" (who composed "Perthshire Hunt"??). All other volumes omit composer credit. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1989; No. 204. Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Music), Vol. 2, 1895; pg. 6. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 3; No. 198, pg. 23. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 16. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 4. Beltona BL2096 (78 RPM), Edinburgh Highland Strathspey and Reel Society (1936).
T:Perthshire Volunteers
L:1/8
M:C
S:Strathspey
B:The Athole Collection
K:A
A|E>A c/d/e c2 A>c|d>B dcBA G<BB>d|c>A c/d/e c2 A<c|d>fe>d c<AA:|
||g|a>e a/g/f/e/ a2 e<c|d>B d/c/B/A/ G<BB>g|a>e a/g/f/e/ a2 e<c|d>B d/c/B/A/ E<AA>d|
c>eG>e F>dE>c|d>B d/c/B/A/ G<BB>d|c>ed>f e<ag<b|a/g/f/e/ a>e c<AA|]
STATEN ISLAND (HORNPIPE). AKA and see "The Arranmore Ferry," "Burns' Hornpipe," "None So Pretty." Scottish, English, Irish, American; Hornpipe. USA; New England, southwestern Pa. Ireland, County Donegal. D Major. Standard. AABB. "Staten Island Hornpipe" was first printed in I.A. Aird's Selection of Scotch, English, Irish, and Foreign Airs, printed in Glasgow, c. 1780, in which it is identical to version played today. Burchenal associates the tune with the New England contra dance The Haymakers, or The Merry Haymakers. Bayard (1981) sees a general resemblance to "The Athole Volunteers" printed in McDonald's Gesto Collection. In Donegal the tune is known as "Arranmore Ferry." Sources for notated versions: Hiram Horner (fifer from Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pa., 1960) and Hoge Ms (a fife MS from Pa., 1944) [Bayard]; Danny Gardella [Phillips]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 318A-B, pg. 274. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 266. Burchenal, 1918; pgs. 4-5 (appears as "Haymakers" [2]). Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 97. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; pg. 46. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 314. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes); No. or pg. 30. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 5, pg. 3. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 8, pg. 21. Miller & Perron, 1983; No. 129. Phillips, Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 226. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 172. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 3. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 56. Tolman (Nelson Music Collection), 1969; pg. 18. F&W Records 1, "F&W String Band." Front Hall 05, Fennigs All Stars- "Saturday Night in the Provinces." June Appal 014, John McCutcheon- "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (1977. Learned from Richard Blaustein). Kicking Mule 209, Hank Sapoznik- "Melodic Clawhammer Banjo." North Star RS0009, "The Wind in the Rigging: A New England Voyage" (1988).
T:Staten Island Hornpipe, The
M:C|
L:1/8
R:Hornpipe
K:D
AG|FDFG A2Bc|defe dcBA|B2GB A2FA|G2E2 E2AG|
AG|FDFG A2Bc|defe dcBA|d2d2 efge|1 f2d2 dBAG:|2 f2d2 defg:|
|:a2fa g2eg|f2df e=cAB|=c2=c2 efge|=c2=c2 efge|
a2fa g2eg|f2df ec (3ABc |d2d2 efge|1 f2d2 defg:|2 f2d2 dBAG:|
WHISTLE OVER/O'ER (THE LAVE O'T). Scottish (originally), English; Rant or Strathspey. England, Northumberland. G Major (Alburger, Glen, Gow, Hall & Stafford, Kerr, Neil, Raven): E Flat Major (Emmerson). Standard. One part (Emmerson, Hunter): AAB (Kerr, Neil): AABB (Alburger, Hall & Stafford, Raven): AABCCD (Athole), AABBCCDD (Glen, Gow, McGlashan). The tune (and song, both extent in several versions) appears to be an early 18th century set of "De'il Stick the Minister," and has often been attributed to John Bruce of Dumfries (c. 1720-1785, born in Braemar), the poet Robert Burns being the first to do so. Others (e.g. Mayne) say the air was composed long before him, and Emmerson (1971) finds in all little evidence to support claims for Bruce. A colorful character, Bruce was a Jacobite, born in Braemar between 1700 and 1720, who was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle after the rising of 1745 and the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Reportedly his skill as a fiddler helped free him and he went to Dumfries where he became acquainted with Robert Burns (who called him "an honest man, though a red wud Highlander") before passing away in 1785 (Collinson, 1966/Alburger, 1983). Flood (1906) says the tune was originally an Irish air dating back to the 17th century called "Maggie Pickens," which the Scots appropriated c. 1715-1740 and set to the song "Whistle O'er the Lave O't" (whose words were so indelicate, according to Flood, that Robert Burns had to rewrite them in 1790. The tune was a favorite march of the Irish Volunteers (1774-1784).
***
"Whistle's" first printed appearance was in 1757 in either Robert Bremner's Scots Reels (pg. 56) {as Glen, 1891, finds} or James Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion where it appears in rant form. Alburger searched the Blaikie Manuscript (1692), as it had been reported by James Dick to be contained there, however she could not locate it in the Wighton copy. It is one of the "missing tunes" from William Vickers' 1770 Northumbrian dance manuscript, but is contained in the 1768 Gillespie Manuscript of Perth. Today, the version that was published by James Scott Skinner (1890) is commonly associated (along with "Gin ye kiss my Wife") with the Scottish traditional dance "Sean(n) Triubhas," which is performed in tartan trousers, not kilts, though other items of Highland dress remain the same. In fact, states Emmerson (1972) "Whistle" is so intimately associated with the dance that it is now commonly known as "Seann Triubhas" (see also note for "Seann Triubhas Willighan," the original tune for the dance).
***
The song "Whistle o'er the lave o't" was written in the 17th century and contains ribald lyrics which can be found in David Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs. "One of many Scots songs with indelicate suggestions," notes Purser (1992), "'fiddling' has long been a double-entendre and whistling a way of avoiding the overexplicit." Burns' words go, in part:
***
I am a fiddler to my trade
An' a' the tunes that e'er I play'd
The sweetest still to wife or maid
Was - Whistle owre the lave o't.
***
My mother sent me to the well,
She had better gang hersell,
I got the thing I dare nae tell,
Whistle o'er the lave o't.
***
The first verse of this version first appears in the Merry Muses where it is the chorus of "Let me ryke up to dight that tear,' while the 2nd verse is from Herd's book of Scots Songs (1769), referenced above. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1982; Ex. 87, pg. 140. Dick, No. 250. Emmerson (Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String), 1971; No. 36, pg. 133. Glen (The Glen Collection of Scottish Music), Vol. 1, 1891; pg. 6. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 12. Hall & Stafford (Charlton Memorial Tune Book), 1974; pg. 1. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; pg. 53. Henderson, Flowers of Scottish Melody, 1935. Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 87. Johnson, Musical Museum, 1787. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; Set 16, No. 3, pg. 11. McGlashan (Collection of Strathspey Reels), c. 1780/81; pg. 31. Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 96, pg. 129. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 180. Skinner, 1890 (Harp and Claymore). Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 172. "James F. Dickie's Delights" (1976). "The Fiddler's Companion" (1980).
T:Whistle O'er the Lave O't
L:1/8
M:C
R:Slow Strathspey
B:The Athole Collection
K:G
G>E E<G B>A B2|d<e B>g A>G E2|G>D E<G G>AB>g|G<G B>G A2G2:|
de/f/ g>f e>d B2| d>eB>g A>G E2|de/f/ g>f e>d B<g|G<G B>G A2 G2|
de/f/ g>f e>d B2|c>aB>g A>G E2|g>be>g d>g B<b|G<G B>G A2 G2||
|:G>BA>c B>GA>c|B>GA>F G>B, A,2|G,>B,A,>C B,>D G<B|
A>Bc>B A2 G2:|
G/A/B/c/ d<g e>cB>G|c>AB>G A>G E2|BA/B/ cB/c/ de/f/ g2|
G<G B>G A2G2|G/A/B/c/ d<g e>cB>G|ce/c/ Bd/B/ A>G E2|
g>be>g d>g B<b|G<G B>G A2 G2||