Annotation:Hunting the Hare (1)

Tune properties and standard notation

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HUNTING THE HARE [1]. AKA and see "Helar's Ysgfarnog," "Newcastle Beer" {AKA and see "Mr. Basse His Career," "Career (The)," "Mount Taragh's Triumph"--alternates for an Irish tune called "Hunting of the Hare"}. English, Irish, American; Jig. USA, New England. England, Shropshire. F Major (Raven): D Major (Ashman, Cole, Joyce, Kerr, Williamson). Standard tuning. AB (Cole, Joyce): ABB (Kerr, Raven): AABB (Ashman, Williamson). The title "Hunting the Hare" probably has sexual connotations similar to "Cuckoo's Nest (The)." The melody appears in Twenty Four Dances for the Year 1768 (London: Chas. & Saml. Thompson) and was used as the melody for various song sheets in the 18th century, including a song called 'Newcastle Beer' by John Cunningham (1729-1773). The tune was also known in Wales by the name 'Helar's Ysgfarnog'" (Williamson, 1976). In the United States it appears in several MS collection of around 1800, state Van Cleef and Keller (1980). The title is not to be confused with that of another and different popular melody of the period, "Hunt the Squirrel."

Members of the Carrow Abbey Hunt (1780), by Philip Reinagle (1749-1833)

Source for notated version: "...from a MS. lent to him by Miss O'Connell of Grena Killarney" [Joyce]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman].

Printed sources: Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 68a, p. 27 (appears as "Hunt the Hare"). Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 77. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 797, p. 388. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 3; No. 241, p. 27. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 119. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 109. Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; p. 19.

Recorded sources: LEADER LER-2074, Alistair Anderson - "Plays English Concertina" (1972)

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]

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Tune properties and standard notation