Annotation:Drunken Wives in Pearson's Close (The)
X:1 T:Drunken Wives of Pearson's Close M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel K:Amix f|eaca e/e/e g2|dgBg d/d/d Tf2|eaca e/e/e f2|dfec A/A/A A:| |:f|ecAc e/e/e g2|d/c/B/A/ GB d/d/d Tf2|ecAc e/e/e Tf2|dfec A/A/A A:|]
DRUNKEN WIVES IN PEARSON'S CLOSE, THE. AKA and see "Carnoucie's Rant." Scottish, Country Dance Tune (4/4 time). The melody appears in the Bodleian Manuscript (in the Bodelian Library, Oxford) and is inscribed "A Collection of the Newest Country Dances Performed in Scotland written at Edinburgh by D.A. Young, W.M. 1740." The first strain of "Drunken Wives..." was also included in Edinburgh fiddler and writing master Young's MacFarlane Manuscript (c. 1741, No. 118, p. 182), as the second strain of a tune entitled "Carnoucie's Rant." Young gave the alternate name "Boga 'n Lochan" for the tune in the index to one of his collections, but the later "Bòg an Lochan" is a very different tune.
A 'close' is an alleyway that lets out into a courtyard surrounded by buildings. Pearson's Close was in Edinburgh, where printing and bookselling businesses were located, but it was demolished to make way for the New Town construction in the mid-18th century.
