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DROP, THE. AKA - "Ward's Drop." English, Slip Jig. England, Northumberland. B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The melody was printed by John Johnson in his Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 2 (London, after c. 1750), and makes several appearances in London publisher John Walsh's collections: Caledonian Country Dances (London, 17), The Third Book of the Compleat Country Dancing-Master (London, 1735), and The Compleat Country Dancing-Master, Volume the Third (London, 1749). It was included in the music manuscript collections of Northumbrian musician William Vickers [1] (1770), and London musician Thomas Hammersley (1790).

The title "The Drop" or "Ward's Drop" refers to a notorious often cited medical quack of the first half of the 18th century, named "Spot" Ward (an indelicate nickname that referenced a claret-colored birthmark on his cheek). Ward seems to have originally worked as a drysalter in London, but in 1717 he attempted to represent Marlborough in Parliament, only to be removed when it was discovered he had not received a single vote. He was forced to flee to France (perhaps because of some Jacobite associations), and spent the next sixteen years in that country, perfecting Ward's Pill, which began to received some notoriety as a cure for a variety of aliments. He returned to England around 1733-4, in more advanced circumstances that when he had first left the country. He must have had at least some medical training, for cured King George's dislocated thumb with a violent wrench, earning some vehement disapprobation in the immediate, but the King's esteem somewhat afterwards. Having secured royal patronage, London aristocracy flocked to his door for ministration.

Despite

For further information, see Marjorie H. Nicholson's article "Wards 'Pill and Drop' and Men of Letters," Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 29, No. 2 (Apr.-June 1968, pp. 177-196).

Source for notated version: The 1770 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers [Seattle].

Printed sources: Johnson (Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 2), c. 1759; p. Seattle (Great Northern/William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 318. Walsh (Caledonian Country Dances),

Recorded sources:

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-The title "The Drop" or "Ward's Drop" refers to a notorious medical quack of the first half of the 18th century, "Spot" Ward (an indelicate nickname that referenced a claret-colored birthmark on his cheek).
+The title "The Drop" or "Ward's Drop" refers to a notorious often cited medical quack of the first half of the 18th century, named "Spot" Ward (an indelicate nickname that referenced a claret-colored birthmark on his cheek). Ward seems to have originally worked as a drysalter in London, but in 1717 he attempted to represent Marlborough in Parliament, only to be removed when it was discovered he had not received a single vote. He was forced to flee to France (perhaps because of some Jacobite associations), and spent the next sixteen years in that country, perfecting Ward's Pill, which began to received some notoriety as a cure for a variety of aliments. He returned to England around 1733-4, in more advanced circumstances that when he had first left the country.
+He must have had at least some medical training, for cured King George's dislocated thumb with a violent wrench, earning some vehement disapprobation in the immediate, but the King's esteem somewhat afterwards.  Having secured royal patronage, London aristocracy flocked to his door for ministration.
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+For further information, see Marjorie H. Nicholson's article "Wards 'Pill and Drop' and Men of Letters," '''Journal of the History of Ideas''', vol. 29, No. 2 (Apr.-June 1968, pp. 177-196).
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