Annotation:Flaxley Green Dance
X:1 T:Flaxley Green Dance M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig S:William Robinson (c. 1790-c. 1860), Abbott's Bromley, Staffordshire N:Sharp presented the tune as an alternate air for the N:Swalwell, Earsdon and Beadnell sword dances. B:Cecil Sharp - Sword Dances of Northern England, Book II (1912, p. 14) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Amin ABc d2c|BAG A2G|FGA GAB|A3 A2A| Bcd e2d|cBA B2c|dfe dcB|1 A3 A3:|2 A3 A2|| |:B|cea g2f|edc d2c|Bdg f2e|dcB c2B| Acf Bdg|cea dfb|efe dcB|1 A3 A2:|2 A3 A3||
FLAXLEY GREEN DANCE. English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). A Minor (Aeolian). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. From the Robert Buckley music manuscripts (c. 1857-58), Staffordshire, who noted the tunes in the mid-19th century from the playing of Abbots Bromley fiddler and wheelwright William (or Henry) Robinson (c. 1790-c. 1860). See "Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance" for another of Robinson's tunes. Collector Cecil Sharp, responding to requests (he writes), suggested this tune (which Buckley had sent him) as a suitable tune for the "rapper" dances of Swalwell, Earsdon and Beadnell.
The village of Flaxley Green, Staffordshire, near Rugeley, is set amidst a coal mining area, active until the end of the 20th century. Flaxley Green was also the location of a POW camp, whose foundations can still be seen today.
