Annotation:Old Johnnie Walker

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OLD JOHNNIE WALKER. AKA and see "Buffalo Gals (1)," "Lubly Fan." English, Air and Sword Dance Tune. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The melody was collected by Cecil Sharp in December, 1910, from source William Major, who told him it was the old original tune for the Flamborough Sword Dance. The tune is a version of air to the American minstrel tune "Lubly Fan," or, as it is better-known, "Buffalo Gals (1)" and was paired with "In and out the Windows" so that they were one long tune. The lyric begins:

Old Johnny Walker’s dead and gone,
Dead and gone, dead and gone,
Old Johnny Walker’s dead and gone,
He never died before.

He used to steal old stowps and rails,
Stowps and rails, stowps and rails,
He used to steal old stowps and rails,
To make a fire on.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Neal & Carey (The Esperance Morris Book, Part II), 1912; p. 33. Kennedy (Fiddler's Tune Book, vol. 1), 1951; No. 56, p. 28 (appears as "Buffalo Girls"). Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 145.

Recorded sources:

See also listing at:
See notes on song/tune provenance at the Yorkshire Garland site [1]
See the Flamborough Sword Dance on youtube.com [2]

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