Annotation:Lads of Ayr (1)

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LADS OF AYR/AIR, THE. AKA and see "Merry Lads of Ayr (The)." Scottish, English; Reel or Country Dance Tune. England, Northumberland. C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody appears in the Bodleian Manuscript (in the Bodleian Library, Oxford), inscribed "A Collection of the Newest Country Dances Performed in Scotland written at Edinburgh by D.A. Young, W.M. 1740," and in the (James) Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768). It also was included in the 1770 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers (as "Lads of Are"). A set of this tune called "Merry Lads of Ayr (The)" has been identified as one of Joseph (or John) Riddell (or Riddle) (1718-95) of Ayr's compositions, published in his own 1766 collection. It appears in Robert Mackintosh's A Third Book of Sixty-Eight New Reels and Strathspeys. Also above forty old Famous Reels (Edinburgh, 1796). For more see note under "Merry Lads of Ayr."

Source for notated version: William Vickers' 1770 music manuscript collection (Northumberland) [Seattle].

Printed sources: Anderson (Anderson's Budget of Strathspeys, Reels & Country Dances for the German Flute or Violin), Edinburgh, 1820; p. 28. Johnson (A Twenty Year Anniversary Collection), 2003; p. 17. Seattle (Great Northern/William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 355.

Recorded sources:

See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]

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