Annotation:Winchester Wedding (2) (The)

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WINCHESTER WEDDING [2], THE. AKA and see "King's Jig (1) (The)." English, Country Dance Tune and Air (3/2 time). B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). A very popular country dance tune and penny-ballad air. The melody was first published in John Playford's Dancing Master, 7th edition (1679) and was retained in all subsequent editions through the 18th and final issue of 1728 (then published by John Young). Beginning with the 14th edition of 1709 the alternate title "King's Jig" was appended. As "Winchester Wedding" the country dance was also published by the Walshes in The Compleat Country Dancing Master, editions of 1718, 1731 and 1754. London musician Thomas Hammersley entered it into his 1790 music manuscript copybook collection as "Winchester Wedding, or Lankershire Witches."

Chappell (1854) writes that Thomas D'Urfey wrote a "descriptive" (i.e. bawdy) song called "The Winchester Wedding; set to The King's Jigg, a Country Dance" wand published it with the tune in 1684 as one of "Several new Songs by Tho. D'Urfey, Gent., set to as many new tunes by the best masters in music." The melody was the vechicle for songs in a dozen or more early 18th century ballad operas, the earliest being Ralph James' The Fashionable Lady, or Harlequin's Opera (1730). D'Urfey's words begin:

At Winchester was a wedding, the like was never seen,
Twixt lusty young Ralph of Reading, and bonny black Bess of the green;
The fiddlers did crowd before, each lass was as fine as a queen,
A hundred there were and more, for all the country came in.
Brisk Robin led Rose so fair, she look'd like a Lilly o' th' Vale,
And ruddy-fac'd Harry led Mary, and Roger led bouncing Nell.

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