Annotation:Kingsbury Jig

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KINGSBURY JIG. AKA and see "Oyster Girl (2)." English, Jig. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Kingsbury Jig" is a dance and tune associated with the village of Kingsbury Episcopi, near Langport, Somerset. The tune (but not the dance) was collected by Cecil Sharp in 1903 from the Barrington fiddlers at Hambridge (the day after Christmas day). Under the title "The Oyster Girl" (no relation to the air for the song "The Oyster Girl") the same tune was collected as an alternative air for the Escrick Sword Dance (traditional Yorkshire Long Sword) [see G.R. Willey, "Kingsbury Jig", Folklore, vol. 92:i, 1981]

The verse below was used as a mnemonic for the tune, according to Mike Yates (2002):

Saturday night I lost my wife,
And where do you think I found her?
Up in the moon, playing a tune,
With all the girls around her.

See also note for "Saturday Night (2)."

Source for notated version:

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