Annotation:Piss on the Grass

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PISS ON THE GRASS. AKA - "Piso ar y Gwair." AKA and see "Nancy Dawson (1)." English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody was published under this title in a few of London publisher John Walsh's volumes, including Caledonian Country Dances, vol. 3 (c. 1737-40, p. 236) and Fourth Book of the Compleat Country Dancing-Master (1747, p. 202). The tune and dance instructions were also published by John Johnson in his A Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3 (London, 1744, p. 55). As "Piss on the Grass" the tune was entered into the c. 1810 music copybook collections of Lincolnshire musician Thomas Sands and Welsh musician Mary Richards (1781-1877).

In the second half of the 18th century the tune became associated with the stage dancer Nancy Dawson (1728-1767), who was buried in the Chapel of St. George the Martyr, Queen Square, Bloomsbury. Her tombstone reads simply: "Here lies Nancy Dawson". She was quite famous in her time, particularly for her rendition of the hornpipe. The tune also survived in nursery song repertory as "Here we go 'round the mulberry bush."

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