Annotation:Morgiana in England

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MORGIANA IN ENGLAND. AKA - "Morgiana," "Morgnanna." Irish, Set Dance (6/8 time); English, Jig. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Kennedy, Trim): AABBCC (Callaghan, Sumner). In the Arabian Nights the character Morgiana was a brave and sharp-witted slave girl who aids Ali Baba, whom at the end of the tale he frees and betroths to his nephew. Malcolm Douglas suggests the original "Morgiana" tune may have been associated with Sheridan's The Forty Thieves: A Grand Melo-Dramatic Romance (1806), which included some songs and incidental music (although no direct connection has been discovered). Variants of the title appear in musical literature: Paul Burgess notes there were also tunes with the title "Morgiana in Spain" and "Morgiana in Portugal." The name Morgiana is also a variant of Morgan le Fay, sister to King Arthur and a famous witch. The name had some small popularity as a name given to Victorian-era girl babies.

An early printing of the tune appears in W.M. Cahusac's Annual Collection of 24 Country Dances for 1809, printed with dance instructions. It also appears in Balls' Gentleman's Amusement Book 3 (London, 1815, reprinted in 1830), George Willig's Collection of Popular Country Dances, No. 1 (Philadelphia, 1812), Riley's Flute Melodies, vol. 1 (New York, 1814-1816), and Riley's Flute Melodies, vol. 4 (New York, 1826). In manuscript in Britain it appears in the commonplace book of Edward Russell (Newport, Monmouthshire) of the West Monmouth Local Militia, 1812, in addition to the Gibbons and Thomas Hardy manuscripts noted below. It also appears in the John Clare manuscript (Helpston, Northants, 1820), the Richard Pyle ms. (Nether Wallop, Hants, 1822), and Miss Best's ms. (c. 1850). Matt Seattle finds the tune on a British sheet published by Gow and Shepherd, suggesting to him that it may be a composition by Nathaniel Gow. "Morgiana in England" was known in America as well (although simply as "Morgiana"), and, along with the aforementioned American publications, appears in the music manuscript collections of John Beach (Gloucester, Mass., 1801) and fifer Seth Johnson (Woburn, Mass., 1807). Country dance instructions for "Morgiana" were printed in Graupner's Collection of Country Dances and Cotillions (Boston, Mass., 1808).

Poet Leigh Hunt wrote a song entitled "Morgiana in England", set to the tune of "Deil cam fiddling through the town (The)" (The Poetical Works of Leigh Hunt, 1857), that goes:

Oh, one that I know is a knavish lass,
Though she looks so sweet and simple,
Her eyes there are none can safely pass,
And it's wrong to trust her dimple.
So taking the jade was by Nature made,
So finish'd in all fine thieving,
She'll e'en look away what you wanted to say,
And smile you out of your grieving.

To see her, for instance, go down a dance,
You'd think you sat securely,
Although she forewarns by no bold advance,
And by nothing done over demurely:
But lord! she goes with so blithe a repose,
And comes so shapely about you,
She whisks your heart from out you.

Sources for notated versions: the 1823-26 music mss of papermaker and musician Joshua Gibbons (1778-1871, of Tealby, near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire Wolds) [Sumner]; the Thomas Hardy family manuscripts, early 19th century (Dorset) [Trim].

Printed sources: Cahusac (Annual Collection of Twenty-Four Country Dances for the Year 1809), 1809; No. 3. Callaghan (Hardcore English), 2007; p. 73 (appears as "Morgiana"). Kennedy (Jigs & Quicksteps, Trips & Humours), 1997; No. 123, p. 30 (appears as "Morgiana in Ireland" with "Morgiana in England" given as an alternate title). Roche (Collection of Traditional Irish Music, vol. 2), 1912; No. 281, p. 33. Trim (The Musical Heritage of Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 66 (appears as "Morgnanna"). Sumner (Lincolnshire Collections, vol. 1: The Joshua Gibbons Manuscript), 1997; No. 120, p. 69 (appears as "Morgiana," originally set in the key of 'F' major).

Recorded sources:

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