Annotation:Govenor Littleton's Delight
Tune properties and standard notation
GOVERNOR LITTLETON'S DELIGHT. English, Country Dance Tune (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody is unique to London publisher Charles and Samuel Thompson's 1765 country dance collection. The ill-fated William Henry Littleton, Lord Wescott, was appointed governor of South Carolina by the Crown and was on his way to take up his post when he was captured in the Bay of Biscay by the French. He was released after several months' confinement. It was during his tenure that a war with the Cherokee Nation broke out in the late 1750's, with the usual depredations by both sides. A smallpox epidemic decimated the tribes and by 1761 they had sued for peace, agreeing to secure their territories against the French.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 2), 1765; No. 94.
Recorded sources: