Annotation:Tenpenny Bit (3) (The)
X:1 T:Tenpenny Bit [3], The M: 6/8 L: 1/8 R: Jig K:Ador |:eAA eAA|BAB GBd|eAA eAA|def g2f| eAA eAA|BAB GBd|def gdB|BAG A3:| |:eaa eaa|bab g2f|eaa eaa|bge g2f| eaa eaa|bab gfe|def gdB|BAG A3:|
TENPENNY BIT [1], THE. AKA and see “Three Little Drummers (The)].” Irish (originally), English, American; Double Jig (6/8 time). A Dorian. Standard tuning. AABB. From the 16th to the 19th centuries a common term for a small piece of money, especially the lowest denomination of silver coin, was ‘bit’ (and its variant ‘bite’). Thus, ‘fourpenny-bit’, and the title of this tune, ‘tenpenny-bit’. A secondary meaning (that does not preclude the first—both could well have been meant) is ‘bit’ as referring to a woman, usually in a sexual way. In this sense a ‘tenpenny bit’ may refer to a prostitute. The jig is popular in several genres: New England contra dance musicians play it, and it is one of the jigs commonly played by English musicians for rapper sword dancing (along with “The Blackthorn Stick” and “Connaghtman’s Rambles”). A version appears in Harding’s All Round Collection (1905) under the title “Made in Ireland,” but that sounds like a made-up name for an untitled jig. Similar to “Three Little Drummers (The).”
