Annotation:Irish Lottery (2) (The)

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IRISH LOTTERY [2], THE. English, Country Dance Tune or Jig (6/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A synopsis of Rowena Dudley's The Irish Lottery 1780-1801 (2005) explains:

Lotteries were a well-established part of 18th-century life when, in 1780, the Irish government initiated the first state-controlled lottery to raise much-needed revenue. Inspired by its English counterpart, the lottery was well publicized; the draw, which took several weeks to complete, distributed a substantial prize fund in both large and small prizes. The moderately priced tickets and the century's fascination with gambling encouraged all levels of society to participate. Interest, at fever pitch during the draw, was stimulated and sustained throughout by the newspapers and the resourcefulness of ticket sellers whose ingenious schemes bolstered ticket sales. The lottery's usefulness as a money-raising device ensured its survival for twenty-one years. A plethora of regulations, designed to suppress criminal activity, failed to eradicate fraud although the integrity of the lottery itself was never questioned. The lottery ended with the Union, after 1801 Ireland's financial concerns were decided in London.

The scheme of the Irish Lottery was public knowledge, and printed in period newspapers and periodicals:

SCHEME of the IRISH LOTTERY,
for the Year 1787.

2 prizes of £10000 is £20000
2 . . . . . . 5000 10000
4 . . . . . . 2000 8000
8 . . . . . . 1000 8000
14 . . . . . . 500 7000
30 . . . . . . 100 3000
60 . . . . . . 50 3000
200. . . . . . 20 4000
13050. . . . . 10 130500

13370 Prizes. First drawn, 1st Day, 1000
. . . . . . . Ditto, the 7th Day, 1000
. . . . . . . . Ditto, the 14th Day 1000
. . . . . . . . Ditto, the 21st Day 1000
. . . . . . . . Ditto, the 28th Day 1000
26630 Blanks. . . . . . Last drawn 1500

40000 Tickets . . . . . . . . . . 20000

. . . . . . . . Not Two Blanks to a Prize.

The Drawing to commence on Monday the 12th Day of
November, 1718, and the Prizes to be payable from and
after the 1st Day of June, 1788, in ready Money, without
Discount of any Kind.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Samuel, Ann & Peter Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5), 1788; p. 20.

Recorded sources:

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