Annotation:Romp (1) (The)

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X:1 T:Romp [1], The M:C| L:1/8 R:Country Dance B:Samuel, Ann & Peter Thompson -- Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5 (1788, p. 19) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D d4 A2 Bc|B2B2 A4|d2 fd B2 cd|efge dcBA| d4 A2 Bc|B2B2 A4|d2 fd Bege|d2c2 d4:| |:Adfd Bege|ceae|dgbg|gfed c2d2|edcB A4| Adfd Bege|ceaf|dgbg|gfed A2c2|d4 D4:|]

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ROMP [1], THE. AKA - "Merry Girls of Scarborough (The)." English, Country Dance Tune (cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. In 1767 musician, composer, novelist, actor and songwriter Charles Dibdin (1745-1814) was the original Watty Cockney in Love in the City (1767), and although the play itself was a commercial failure, Dibdin's music for the opera received approval. A number of selections were later altered into the successful production The Romp (1791), for which he composed choruses and songs, including the popular "Dear me! how I long to be married!" "The Romp" was one of the favorite vehicles for the adored period comic actress Dorothy Jordon.

Charles Dibdin

See note for "annotation:Romp (2) (The)" for more on a romp.

This tune and directions for a country dance were printed by London publishers Samuel, Ann & Peter Thompson in their Compleat Collection of 200 Country Dances, vol. 5 (1788, p. 19). However, the whether Dibdin was the composer of this melody is not known, nor is the connection with his opera ascertained (it was staged a few years after the Thompson's publication). Alternatively, and perhaps more convincingly, The Romp was an afterpiece entertainment that played the Haymarket Theatre, London, for several seasons 1786-1789, and would correspond more closely with the Thompson's publication of the tune.

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