Annotation:Bodmin Riding

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BODMIN RIDING. AKA and see "Grand Turk's March (1) (The)," "St. Ives Feast," "St. Ives Well Procession," "Ct. Brown's March." English, March (4/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Bodmin is a village in Cornwall. Bodmin Riding refers to an ancient celebration dating back to the15th century, held annually held on the Sunday and Monday after July 7th (on, St. Thomas a Becket's Day). The pagent is supposedly based on events that led to the hanging of the town's mayor. Simpson and Roud (Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore, 2000) say that accounts of the pagent vary over its long history, but involved "a horseback procession around the town, carrying two large garlands, and probably originated as a Guild Riding custom." In modern times Bodmin Riding ceased in the early 19th century, but was revived in 1974 and continues to this day. The melody appears in the 18th century musicians' manuscripts of Benjamin Cooke (c. 1770, Leeds, west Yorkshire), Joseph Barnes (1762, Carlisle, Cumbria), and James Biggins (1779, Leeds, west Yorkshire). Barry Callaghan (2007) also says it is by repute in a manuscript by Thomas Quiller Couch of 1864.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Callaghan (Hardcore English), 2007; p. 30. RACCA 2, 1997; No. 1.

Recorded sources:

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