Annotation:Vulcan's Cave
X: 1 T:Vulcan's Cave. RH.493 T:King of the Cannibal Islands,aka. RH.493 T:Cumberland Reel,aka. RH.493 T:Nottingham Swing,aka. RH.493 R:jig S:Rev.R.Harrison's MS,c1815,Cumbria N:aka King of the Cannibal Islands, Cumberland Reel, N:Nottingham Swing, Hilly-go Filly-go all the way, etc. O:England A:Temple Sowerby,Cumbria Z:vmp.Simon Wilson. Review PJH, 2008. M:6/8 L:1/8 Q:3/8=120 K:G d|b2a g2f|f2e d2B|cBc A2c|B2c d2G| e2G g2G|d2G g2G|fga def|g3 g2:|! .b2.b .b2.a|.b2.b .b2.a|.b2.b .c'2.b|a>ba a2z| g2g g2f|g2g g2f|g2g a2g|fga def|! g3 fed|e2f g2z|g3 fed|e2f g2b| a2g a2b|a2g a2b|a2d' def|g3 g2|]
VULCAN'S CAVE. AKA and see "Bunty's Ghost," "Cabbages and Onions," "Cannibal Islands (The)," "Cotton Lords of Preston," "Cumberland Reel (1)," "Deux Rivales (Les)," "Double-dee-Doubt," "Ghost that Haunted Bunty (The)," "Handcart Song (The)," "Hilly-Go Filly-Go All the Way," "Hokee Pokee Wonkee Fum," "King of the Cannibal Islands," "Nottingham Swing," "Phillebelula All the Way," "Stanla Markit," "Stanley Market." English, Jig (6/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Vulcan's Cave" was a popular melody in England going by several names. However, it was composed and first published by a music seller from Bath, England, by the name of John Charles White (1795-1845), who published it as the second figure (l'Ete) in his White's Third Set of Quadrilles (1815) where it is called "Les Deux Rivales." White later adapted the tune as a country dance, publishing it as:
The celebrated dance of Vulcan’s Cave, introduced at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden, performed at the Amicable Society’s Balls, Willis’s Rooms, and all Fashionable assemblies in London, Bath, Cheltenham, Brighton etc. Originally composed as the Quadrille of Les Deux Rivales in White’s third set, and now adapted as a Country Dance, by John Charles White. Bath, published at White’s, Music & Piano Forte Warehouses, 1, Milsom Street & 3, George Street.
The melody appears under the title "Vulcan's Cave" in the music manuscript copybooks of several English musicians from the early-to-mid 19th century.
Some of the alternate titles are the names of songs set to the tune, the most popular of which was "King of the Cannibal Islands". It is possible that "Vulcan's Cave" was also turned into a song. There is a fragment of a song entitled "Vulcan's Cave" printed in George Coward's The Songs and Ballads of Cumberland (1874, No. 221), although whether there is any association with the country dance tune is unknown.
How we work, like jovial fellows,
Drink and sing and blow the bellows,
When hissing sparks around us fly,
And lips are parch'd and throats are dry,
Then, then's the time to wet your eye,
And blow, blow the bellows. — (Blows) —
Twank-a-dillo, twank-a-dillo,
Twank-a-dillo — dillo — ditto ;
And we play'd our merry pipes
Down by the green willow.
