Annotation:Carle He Came O'er the Craft (The)

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CARLE HE CAME O'ER THE CRAFT, THE. AKA and see "Port a Bhodich." Scottish; Air, Reel or Strathspey. A Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Gow): AABB' (Athole). A 'carle' in Scottish usage is a 'bloke' or common man. Early versions of the melody appear in John Watts' Musical Miscellany, vol 3 (London, 1730, p. 110) and William Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius, vol. 1 (London, 1733). Dance settings of the tune appear in Neil Stewart's Collection of the Newest and Best Reels or Country Dances (Edinburgh, 1775), James Aird's Selection of Scotch, English, Irish, and Foreign Airs, vol 1 (Glasgow, 1782), and Wilson's Companion to the Ball Room (1816). Lyrics to the song version begin:

The carle he came o'er the croft,
And his beard new shav'n,
He look'd at me, as he been daft,
The carle trows that I wad hae him.
Hout awa' I winna hae him!
Na, forsooth, I winna hae him!
For a' his beard new shav'n,
Ne'er a bit will I hae him. (Cunningham, Songs of Scotland, 1825)

The country dance version printed by London publisher T. Straight (1783, p. 5) is congruent in the second strain, and, while the first strain has a harmonic resemblance to other versions, it differs melodically.

Source for notated version: The music manuscript collection [1] of musician and instrument maker and repairer Michael J. Dunn (1855 - 1935), a native of County Laois who emigrated to the United States in 1880. Dunn soon made his way to Milwuakee and made a career in the Milwaukee Fire Department, attaining the rank of Captain. Dunn was also a fiddler and uilleann piper.

Printed sources: Straight (24 Favourite Dances for the Year 1783), 1783; p. 5. Wilson (Companion to the Ball Room), 1816; p. 35.

Recorded sources:

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