Buttered Peas (1)

BUTTERED PEAS(E) [1]. AKA and see "Highland Wedding [1]," "Jack's Be The Daddy On't," "Reel of Stumpie," "Stumpie/Stumpey," "No Man's Jig." English; Air, Reel or Country Dance Tune. England, Northumberland. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The tune can be found in James Ralph's Fashionable Lady (1730), and subsequently appeared in English ballad operas of the early 1730's such as John Gay's Achilles (1733, whose version of the words appear below), The Fashionable Lady, or Harlequin's Opera (1730), The Female Parson (1730), The Boarding School (1732), The Decoy (1733) and The Whim (1734). It became popular enough to have been transported to the Continent in the 18th century, where, for example it could be heard in Italy as "Piselli al Burro." "Buttered Pease" appears in several tune books and fiddlers' manuscripts from the 18th century. It was published by Walsh in his Compleat Country Dancing Master (London, 1731) and in a later (1754) edition of the same volume; by Johnson in (Daniel) Wright's Complete Collection of Celebrated Country Dances (London, 1740); by Charles and Samuel Thompson in their Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 2 (London, 1765); and by James Aird in vol. 1 of his Selections of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs (Glasgow, 1782). It was included in the 1790 music manuscript copybook of London musician Thomas Hammersley, and the 1747 music manuscript of Walter Rainstorp, also from (Cheapside) London.

Angus Mackay arranged the tune for the Highland pipes and called it "The Highland Wedding". See Bayard's note for the Pennsylvania collected "The Drunken Sailor," of which this tune forms the second strain. It is arranged as a duet by W.J. Stafford in Hall & Stafford's Charlton Memorial Tune Book.

Should the Beast of the noblest race
Act the Brute of the lowest class;
Tell me which do you think most base,
Or the Lion or the Ass?

Printed sources: Hall & Stafford (Charlton Memorial Tune Book), 1974; p. 53. Peacock's Tunes, c. 1805/1980; No. 41, p. 18. Raven (English Country Dane Tunes), 1984; p. 142. Scott (English Song Book), 1926; p. 12. Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 2), 1765; No. 173. Wilson (Companion to the Ball Room), 1816; p. 87.

Recorded sources: Maggie's Music MMCD216, Hesperus - "Early American Roots" (1997).

X:1 T:Buttered Peas [1] M:2/4 L:1/8 K:G d/c/ | Bd dc/B/ | ce ed/c/ | Bd dc/B/ | cA Ad/c/ | Bd dc/B/ | ce ed/c/ | Bd Ac | BGG :| |: d/c/ | Bd g>a | g/f/e/d/ gd | Bd gf/g/ | aA Ad/c/ | Bd g>a | g/f/e/d/ gd/c/ | Bd Ac | BGG :|

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X:2
T:Butter'd Pease  [1]
M:C|
L:1/8
B:Thompson's Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 2 (London, 1765)
Z:Transcribed and edited by Fynnian Titford-Mock, 2007
Z:abc's:AK/Fiddler's Companion 
K:G
B2d2 d2 cB|c2e2 e4|B2d2 d2cB|c2A2 A4|B2d2 d2cB|c2e2 e4|BcdB ABcA|B2G2 G4:|
|:B2d2d2 ef|gfga g4|B2d2d2cB|c2A2 A4|B2d2d2 ef|gfga g4|BcdB ABcA|B2G2 G4:||

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