Annotation:Contented Farmer (The)

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CONTENTED FARMER, THE. AKA and see "Happy Farmer (2)," "One evening having lost my way." English, Jig. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody was first published in Charles and Samuel Thompson's Compleat Collection, vol. 3 (London, 1773). It was included by Northumbrian musician William Vickers in his manuscript collection [1], begun in 1770. Matt Seattle says this tune is "recognizably 'Happy Farmer (2)' (c.f. Northumbrian Pipers' Tune Book, 1970), but with noticeable differences," but that Vickers' is the same tune as Thompson's. There is an earlier, different tune, also called the "Contented Farmer" or "Contented Country Farmer" that appears in ballad operas and on song sheets and in some dance collections.

Printed sources: Kirkpatrick (John Kirkpatrick's English Choice), 2003; p. 11. Seattle (Great Northern/William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 234. Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3), 1773; No. 178.

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