Annotation:Fair Maid of Whickham

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FAIR MAID OF WHICKHAM, THE. English, Jig (6/8 time). England, Northumberland. G Major (most versions). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune is probably sourced by Bruce & Stokoe, Northumbrian Minstrelsy (1882; p. 10) and the Northumbrian Pipers' Tune Book (1970; p. 32) to the 1770 manuscript music collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers, and is associated with North East English musical repertory, where it is a staple of the Northumbrian smallpipes tradition. However, the jig was published in a few of the earlier 18th century London publications, including John Johnson's Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3 (1744), Walsh's Fourth Book of the Compleat Country Dancing-Master (1744), and Walsh's Caledonian Collection. It also appears in the music manuscript copybooks of American musician John Aborn (1790) and English musician Walter Rainstorp (Cheapside, London, 1747).

Source for notated version: the manuscript music collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers, about whom very little is known [Seattle].

Printed sources: Bruce & Stokoe (Northumbrian Minstrelsy), 1882; p. 154. Cocks (Tutor for the Northumbrian Half-Long Bagpipes), 1925; No. 10, p. 9. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 114. Seattle (Great Northern/William Vickers), 1987, Part 3; No. 576.

Recorded sources:

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