Annotation:Tight Little Island (The): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:02, 8 September 2022

TIGHT LITTLE ISLAND, THE. English, Air and Jig (6/8 time). D Major (Raven): G Major (Wade): F Major (Knowles). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Knowles, Raven): AA'B (Wade). The tune was adapted from "The Island", a humorous song written about 1798 by Thomas Dibdin (1771-1841) and sung by a singer named Davies at Sadler’s Wells in that year. Thomas was the illegitimate son of British songwriter, actor, writer, and actor wikipedia:Charles_Dibdin. Kidson, in Groves, identifies it as a version of "The Rogue's March. " The melody is occasionally heard in North West (England) morris dance repertory, collected in the early 20th century. Dibdin's song begins:

Daddy Neptune one day to Freedom did say,
"If ever I live upon dry land,
The spot I should hit on would be little Britain."
Says Freedom, "Why that's my own Island."
Oh! what a snug little Island,
A right little, tight little Island!
All the globe round, none can be found
So happy as this little Island.

Julius Caesar, the Roman, who yielded to no man,
Came by water, he couldn't come by dry land;
And Dane, Pict and Saxon, their homes turn'd their backs on,
And all for the sake of our Island,
Oh, what a snug little Island,
They'd all have a touch at the Island;
Some were shot dead - some of them fled,
And some stay'd to live in the Island.

Additional notes

Printed sources : - Knowles (Northern Frisk), 1988; No. 65. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 119. Wade (Mally’s North West Morris Book), 1988; p. 32.

See also listing at :
See an issue of Dibdin's "The Island" at the LOC [1]

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 {{TuneAnnotation
-|f_annotation='''TIGHT LITTLE ISLAND, THE.'''  English, Air and Jig (6/8 time). D Major (Raven): G Major (Wade): F Major (Knowles). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Knowles, Raven): AA'B (Wade).  The tune is adapted from "The Island", a humorous song written about 1798 by Thomas Dibdin (1771-1841) and sung by a singer named Davies at Sadler’s Wells in that year. Thomas was the illegitimate son of British songwriter, actor, writer, and actor [[wikipedia:Charles_Dibdin]].  Kidson, in Groves, identifies it as a version of "The Rogue's March. " The melody is occasionally heard in North West (England) morris dance repertory, collected in the early 20th century.
+|f_annotation='''TIGHT LITTLE ISLAND, THE.'''  English, Air and Jig (6/8 time). D Major (Raven): G Major (Wade): F Major (Knowles). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Knowles, Raven): AA'B (Wade).  The tune was adapted from "The Island", a humorous song written about 1798 by Thomas Dibdin (1771-1841) and sung by a singer named Davies at Sadler’s Wells in that year. Thomas was the illegitimate son of British songwriter, actor, writer, and actor [[wikipedia:Charles_Dibdin]].  Kidson, in Groves, identifies it as a version of "The Rogue's March. " The melody is occasionally heard in North West (England) morris dance repertory, collected in the early 20th century. Dibdin's song begins:
+<blockquote>
+''Daddy Neptune one day to Freedom did say,''<br>
+''"If ever I live upon dry land,''<br>
+''The spot I should hit on would be little Britain."''<br>
+''Says Freedom, "Why that's my own Island."''<br>
+''Oh! what a snug little Island,''<br>
+''A right little, tight little Island!''<br>
+''All the globe round, none can be found''<br>
+''So happy as this little Island.''<br>
+<br>
+''Julius Caesar, the Roman, who yielded to no man,''<br>
+''Came by water, he couldn't come by dry land;''<br>
+''And Dane, Pict and Saxon, their homes turn'd their backs on,''<br>
+''And all for the sake of our Island,''<br>
+''Oh, what a snug little Island,''<br>
+''They'd all have a touch at the Island;''<br>
+''Some were shot dead - some of them fled,''<br>
+''And some stay'd to live in the Island.''<br>
+</blockquote>
 |f_printed_sources=Knowles ('''Northern Frisk'''), 1988; No. 65. Raven ('''English Country Dance Tunes'''), 1984; p. 119. Wade ('''Mally’s North West Morris Book'''), 1988; p. 32.
 |f_see_also_listing=See an issue of Dibdin's "The Island" at the LOC [https://www.loc.gov/resource/musm1a1.10899.0/?sp=2&r=-0.24,0.033,1.332,0.956,0]