Annotation:Windsor Terrace (1)

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X:1 T:Windson Tarras. A New Song. M:C L:1/8 R:Air B:D'Urfey - Pills to Purge Melancholy, vol. 1 (1719) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Dmin d2 Af e3A|dfed ^c3B|AdGd FdEd|Dde^c d4|| af (f/g/)a g3 g|af (f/g/)a g3f|egcg cgBg|Afge f4| af (f/g/)a b3a|gf ed ^c3B|AdGd FdEd|Dde^c d4||

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WINDSOR TERRACE [1] AKA - "Windsor Tarass/Tarris." AKA and see “Barr a Barr.” English, Country Dance Tune (cut or 4/4 time). D Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Kidson (1890) identifies this melody as the original of "Dawning of the Day (3)" (Torried y dydd) from Welsh tradition. The title comes from a song to the tune by Thomas D'Urfey, printed in vol. 1 of his Pills to Purge Melancholy (1719-20). Dance versions can be found in Walsh's 1719 Compleat Country Dancing Master, John Young’s Dancing Master, volume two (3rd edition of 1718 and 4th edition of 1728), D’Urfey’s Pills to Purge Melancholy, vol. 1 (London, 1719), and Wright’s Compleat Collection of Celebrated Country Dances (London, 1740).

D'Urfey's song tells of a country gentleman's unsuccessful courting of a well-bred young woman. Unimpressed by his declarations of wealth, she asks him to sing and play an instrument with her, and rejects him when he cannot. The first two stanzas go:

Musing, I late, on Windsor Tarass fate;
And hot and weary,
Heard a merry,
Am'rous couple chat;
Words as they go,
The Nymph soon made me know,
And t'other was,
Tho' gay in dress,
A blund'ring Country Beau.

He has shown her all
The Lodgings, great and small;
The Tower, the Bower,
The Green, the Queen,
And fam'd St. George's Hall:
Lastly brought her here,
To court her for his Dear;
To Wed and Bed,
And swore he had,
A thousand Pound a Year. .... (D'Urfey)

"Windsor Terrace" is the vehicle for songs in the stage works The Quaker’s Opera (1728) and Fashionable Lady (1730).