Annotation:Leap Over the Garter
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LEAP OVER THE GARTER. English?, Country Dance Tune (2/4 time). C Major (Harding): D Major (Aird). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The title may have to do with an equestrian circus trick, where a rider standing on a horse leaps over a string or garter, while the horse passes under it, to then land back atop standing atop of the horse. Since the horse and the performer are moving at the same speed, the performer only has to jump up, rather than up and forward, to clear the obstacle. Equestrian rider George Smith, who flourished at the end of the 18th century, was billed as "The First Equestrian Performer in the World", his advertisement proclaiming:
He will Jump over Three Garters going once round the Ring, and take a surprising Leap through a Balloon, suspended in the air, Ten Feet high, and alight on the Saddle, on a Single horse, which is allowed to be the greatest Feat of Horsemanship ever attempted, and never performed by an other person.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 4), 1796; No. 102, p. 40. Hardings All-Round Collection, 1905; No. 194; p. 61.
Recorded sources:
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