X: 1
%
T:Rufty Tufty. (p)1651.PLFD.085
M:C
L:1/4
Q:1/2=120
S:Playford, Dancing Master,1st Ed.,1651.
O:England
H:1651.
Z:Chris Partington.
K:G
d2 d e|f2 e f|g g f>e|1d4:|2d3|
|:e/f/|g f e d|d c B>c|d d c B|1A2 G:|2A2G2|
|:B>cd d|ec d2|B>c d d|e c d B/2c/2|d d c B|A2 G2:|
RUFTY TUFTY. English, Country Dance Tune (2/2 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABC (Sharp): ABCC (Barnes, Karpeles, Raven). The melody with directions for a country dance (for sets of two couples) was first published by John Playford in his English Dancing Master (1651), but was dropped from the long-running series of editions after the first volume. The third strain consists of six bars, repeated, while the first two contain eight measures each. The meaning of "rufty-tufty" is 'rumbustious, boisterous, and rough, tough'.
Additional notes
Printed sources : - Barber (Nick Barber's English Choice), 2002; No. 3, p. 6. Barlow (The Complete Country Dances from Playford’s Dancing Master), 1986; No. 85, p. 34. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes), 1986. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; p. 12. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pp. 25 & 44 (the latter page is a reprint of the Playford MS). Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), 1909; p. 18.
Recorded sources : - DMPCD0203, Nick & Mary Barber, Huw Jones - "Bonnie Kate." Familiar Records FAM 47, Pyewackett - "7 To Midnight" (1985). Harmonia Mundi Records, The Broadside Band & Jeremy Barlow - "Arbeau & Playford: Danses Populaires Françaises" (1986). Maggie’s Music MMCD216, Hesperus - “Early American Roots” (1997).
