Annotation:Peter Street (1)

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X:1 T:Favorite Dance—as danced at Peter Street, A M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Reel B:Maurice Hime - "Hime’s Collection of Favourite Country Dances for 1809, Number 2" B:(Dublin, 1809, p. 3) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:C c(3e/d/c/ gc (3e/d/c/|g/c/c'/c/ b/c/a/c/|g/c/ (3e/d/c/ g/c/a/c/|d/G/e/G/ f/G/d/G/| c(3e/d/c/ g/c/ (3e/d/c/|g/c/c'/c/ b/c/a/c/|g/a/g/e/ g/c'/g/e/ |d/c/d/e/ c2:| |:G(3B/A/G/ d/G/ (3B/A/G/|d/G/f/G/ e/G/d/G/|c(3e/d/c/ g/c/ (3e/d/c/|g/c/c'/c/ b/c/a/c/| g/^f/g/e/ c'/b/c'/a/|g/^f/g/e/ c'/b/c'/a/|g/e/c'/b/ a/g/f/e/|d/c/B/A/ G/A/B/G/!D.C.!||

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PETER STREET [1] (Sráid Phaedair/Peadair). AKA – “Peter Street Lasses," Sweet Peter Street.” AKA and see “Babes in the Woods (3),” “Blackling Races,” “Blanchland Races,” "Favorite Dance--as danced at Peter Street (A)," "McGregor's Reel," "Miller's Frolics (2)," "Mudville Frolic," "Timour the Tartar." Scottish, Irish, New England; Reel (cut time). A Major (Cole, Haverty, Miller & Perron, O'Connor, O'Neill, Spadaro): G Major (Breathnach, Eames, Robbins). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Cole, Haverty, O'Connor, O'Neill/1850 & 1001, Spadaro): AA'B (O'Neill/Krassen): AABB (Miller & Perron, Robbins, Sweet): AA'BB' (Breathnach). The name “Peter Street” first appears as part of the tune title in a publications by Maurice Hime in 1809, and P. Alday c. 1815, both Dublin music publishers, printed in both issues as “A Favourite Dance—as danc’d at Peter Street,” a reference probably to Dublin's Peter Street (there are other 'Peter Streets' in various places). Hime's 1809 publication is the earliest found to date that contains the melody (under any title).

The Royal Amphitheatre, Peter Street, was a venue built by Phillip Astley for his circus, the first in Ireland (Astley also had similar venues in London and Edinburgh) which operated from 1789 to 1812. In addition, the stage was used for plays, musical theater and ballets. For example, Tom Cooke's (1783-1848) pantomime The Marriage of Peleus and Thetis; or, Harlequin Paris was staged there in 1802 and relied heavily on traditional Irish dance tunes for its overture and content. Due east, across the Irish Sea, Peter Street in Liverpool was a notorious 19th-century red-light district, which may have contributed something to the later popularity of that name. The reel "Peter Street" appears in a repertoire list brought by Philip Goodman, the last professional and traditional piper in Farney, Louth, to the Feis Ceoil in Belfast in 1898 (Breathnach, 1997).

The melody is sometimes known in English and Scottish collections as “Timour the Tartar” (see note for Timour the Tartar) for more information), however, it appears in the 19th century music manuscript collection of John Burks' as “Blackling Races,” perhaps a mishearing of another alternate title, "Blanchland Races."

"Peter Street" seems to have enjoyed some former popularity for contra dancing. An early version (as "Peter Street") appears in the music manuscript collection of musician M.E. Eames, frontispiece dated Aug. 22nd, 1859. Nothing is known of the fiddler, although some tune titles in his manuscript suggest Philadelphia, Pa., associations. It was entered as an untitled tune into in the Woburn (Mass.) Fife Manuscript, a ms. collection inscribed with the the name Seth Johnson and "Woburn. April 20th day, 1807. I Bought this Book, 5:3." Entries were made between 1807 and as late as 1840. "Peter Street" probably gained popularity for American contra dancing through its appearance in several of Boston publisher Elias Howe's publications. John Hartford thinks the tune hints of "Olive Branch Hornpipe" (or, more correctly, vice-versa).

In Ireland, the reel (as "Peter Street Dance") was entered into the mid-19th century music manuscript collection of County Cork uilleann piper and Church of Ireland cleric James Goodman, the c. 1883 collection of County Leitrim piper and fiddler Stephen Grier (Book 2, p. 1 [1]), and dancing master P.D. Reidy's 1890's copybook. Goodman also entered a fragment of "Peter Street Dance" (the first four measures only) in a section of pipe tunes. Philippe Varlet remarks that the tune was often recorded during the 78 RPM era, although not very much in modern times. Early recordings include a 1927 waxing in the United States by concertina player William Mullaly, and a 1936 recording by Co. Sligo/New York fiddler James Morrison accompanied by Tom Carmody on accordion. Piper Leo Rowsome recorded it as well in 1936, and the great accordion player Paddy O'Brien recorded it for a 1950’s Copley EP that had tracks by fiddler Sean McGuire as well. Perhaps the earliest recording is from 1904 by violinist Charles D’Almaine [2], born in 1871 in England, who died in 1943. D’Almaine immigrated to the United States in 1888, and by 1890 had established himself as “instructor on violin” in Evanston, Illinois; by 1910 he had removed to Yonkers, and in 1920 was a chiropractor in New York City. He was not, however, a traditional instrumentalist but rather prolifically recorded a wide variety of popular and classical music.

In some circles the tune is associated with piano accordion players as a “show-off” piece.

An early American version was printed by Boston music publisher Elias Howe in his Second Part of the Musician's Companion (1843) as "McGregor's Reel." Fiddlers prefer the tune in the key of ‘A’, while B/C accordion and tin whistle players prefer it in ‘G’, both of which keys favour their respective instruments; flute player John Clinton set it in 'D', accordingly. Francis O'Neill references "Peter Street" and the Howe publications in his Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby (1910):

In the matter of general distribution it is well up towards the top of the list, for it may be found in most American piano publications which include reels and hornpipes among their numbers. Its ringing tones assail the ear from self-player pianos, and as “Miller’s Frolic” it appeared in Howe’s collections, printed in Boston when our parents were young. “Peter Street” is by no means a characteristic Irish reel, and for that reason its paternity has always been to me a matter of uncertainty, although a florid setting of it with variations was received from Mr. John Tubridy, a school teacher at Tulla, County Clare, and a prize winner on the violin at a Leinster Feis.

"Peter Street" was the theme song for the popular CBC TV show "The John Allan Cameron Show," featuring the "Cape Breton Symphony" (which featured Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald, Wilfred Gillis, John Donald Cameron, and Jerry Holland on fiddles) broadcast 1979-1981.

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