Annotation:Donkey Riding
Tune properties and standard notation
DONKEY RIDING. AKA and see "Bonny Laddie," "Highland Laddie," "High Caul/Caul'd Cap." English; Country Dance tune (4/4 time). A Major (Welling): G Major (Wade). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Welling): AB (Wade). The melody has wide dissemination throughout North America, Ireland and Britain, although its roots appear to be as a Scottish march of some antiquity. The "Donkey Riding" title comes from the chorus of a sea chanty set to the melody:
Hey ho, and away we go,
Donkey riding, donkey riding;
Hey ho, and away we go,
Riding on a donkey.
'Donkey riding' has been said to refer to the use of a 'donkey', a steam-powered donkey engine used to help hoist cargo and supplies from the dock to the ship's hold. The single-cylinder donkey engine was invented in 1881 and was quickly employed for a host of tasks, including logging. This seems a plausible explanation, until one finds versions of the tune with the "Donkey Riding" title that predate the introduction of the steam engine. For example, "Donkey Riding" appears in the 1823 music manuscript of R.Hughes, a musician from Whitchurch, Shropshire.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Wade (Mally's North West Morris Book), 1988; p. 20. Welling (Welling's Hartford Tune Book), 1976; p. 8.
Recorded sources: See also listing at Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index [1].