Annotation:Cheshunt Statute

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CHESHUNT STATUTE. English, Country Dance Tune (2/4 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Cheshunt is a parish in the County of Hertford. The nature of the 'statute' of the title is unknown, but possibly has something to do with the following, from British History Online:

The River Lea or one of its streams forms the eastern boundary, which has been the cause of many disputes between the Abbots of Waltham and the lords of Cheshunt; the former maintained that the Small River Lea flowing half a mile west of Waltham was the dividing line, and that all the adjacent meadows belonged to Waltham; the latter tried to prove that the River Lea itself, flowing through the town of Waltham, was the county boundary, and that the land west of it belonged to the manor of Cheshunt. Peter of Savoy, when lord of the manor, quitclaimed to Simon the abbot his right to the meadows and marshes in question, but the dispute broke out again, and at the time of the Dissolution was undetermined between Robert, the last abbot, and the lord of Cheshunt. The quarrel was carried on by the two neighbouring towns, and in the middle of the 19th century was still unsettled. The present boundary appears to be a compromise, the southern part being formed by the Small River Lea, the northern part by the River Lea itself. [1]

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Longman & Co. (Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year 1770), 1770; p. 27. Longman, Lukey & Broderip (Bride's Favourite Collection of 200 Select Country Dances, Cotillons), 1770; p. 27.

Recorded sources:

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