Annotation:Lovely Nancy (1)

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LOVELY NANCY [1]. English, Air and Waltz (3/4 time). G Major (Barnes, Kennedy, Oswald, Raven): E Flat Major (Chappell). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (most versions): AABBCCDD (Callaghan): AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ (Oswald). This popular air appears in the 18th century ballad opera The Jovial Crew when it was revived in February, 1760 (but not in the 1731 version of the play^[1]). It was added after the first performance, according to the English musicologist William Chappell (1859), with the words below being sung by the female beggars. Waltz versions, of course, are a later adaptation of the air.

John Glen (Early Scottish Melodies, 1900) and Purser (1992) attributed the tune to the Scottish composer and publisher James Oswald [wp:

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - the music manuscript of Captain George Bush (1753?-1797), a fiddler and officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution [Keller].

Printed sources : - Barber (Nick Barber's English Choice), 2002; No. 96, p. 42. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; p. 78. Callaghan (Hardcore English), 2007; p. 85. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Times), vol. 2, 1859; pp. 162-163. Christian (A Playford Assembly), 2015; p. 63. Keller (Fiddle Tunes from the American Revolution), 1992; p. 17. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), vol. 1, 1951; No. 72, p. 35. Oswald (Caledonian Pocket Companion, Book 2), 1760, pp. 2-3. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 136.

Recorded sources : - DMPCD 0242, Nick & Mary Barnes with Huw Jones - "Lovely Nancy" (2002). New World Records 80276-2, "Music of the American Revolution: The Birth of Liberty."

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↑ The original Jovial Crew or The Merry Beggars was written by Richard Broome, first staged in 1641 and published in 1652.

[1] The original Jovial Crew or The Merry Beggars was written by Richard Broome, first staged in 1641 and published in 1652.

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