Annotation:Children in the Wood (The)

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CHILDREN IN THE WOOD, THE. AKA - "Children in ye Wood." AKA and see "Now Ponder Well Ye Parents Dear." English, Air (6/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. A ballad written in 1595, whose lyrics tell the tale of "The Norfolk gent his will and Testament and how he Commytted the Keepinge of his children to his owne brother who delte moste wickedly with them and howe God plagued him for it" (Merryweather, 1989). Like Hansel and Gretel, the children were abandoned to die in the woods. It was included by John Gay in his ballad opera The Beggar's Opera (1728) under the title "Oh ponder well, be not secure," and, under a different name in Pills to Purge Melancholy (1709).

The accompanying dance given in Wright's 1740 collection is worth mentioning, if only for its odd character and rather elaborate directions:

The first couple make their honours and hold their handkerchiefs to their eyes as if crying. The 2nd Man and 2nd Woman do the same at ye same time, then the same to their Partners again till ye slow Part is play'd, then the 1st Couple cross over and half Figure thro' the 2nd Couple, Right and Left all four round.

Note the tempo change clearly marked in Wright's tune, emphasized by a corresponding change of key.

Printed source: Merryweather (Merryweather's Tunes for the English Bagpipe), 1989; p. 34. Wright (Compleat Collection of Celebrated Country Dances), 1740; p. 31.

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