Annotation:Air (33)

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X:1 T:Air [33] T:Troop, A M:3/4 L:1/8 R: S:The Buttery Manuscript (c. 1784-1820, No. 43, p. 9) N:John Buttery (1784-1854) joined the 34th Regiment in Lincoln, N:Lincolnshire, England, in 1797 and served as a fifer until discharged in N:1814. His large ms. contains marches, duty calls, dance tunes and airs. N:EASMES identifies this as the Fife MS. and suggests a date of 1780, see N: https://www.cdss.org/elibrary/Easmes/Index.htm Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G G2 BGBe|d2 c2B2|g2 fedc|B2 AB G2| G2 BG d2|G2 BG gf/e/|f2e2d2:| |:e2 egfg|d2 dgfg|c2 edcB|BAGFED| e2 egfg|d2 dgfg|Ac B2 A2|G6:|]

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AIR [33]. English, Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody was employed by John Buttery, a fifer for the 37 Regiment at the turn of the 19th century, for a military duty called 'Troop' also called 'The Assembly', a specific drum-beat that ordered the troops to repair to the place of rendezvous, or to their colors. Since it was the drum beat that was the signal, a variety of melodies could be played by fifers to accompany the action. It is entered along with a number of other melodies simply labled "Troop" into his large music manuscript collection that was eventually taken to Canada when he emigrated decades later.