Bride's a Bonnie Thing (The)

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Theme code Index	55 62 55 55
Also known as	Bride has a Bonnie Thing (The), Scotland (3)
Composer/Core Source
Region	England, Scotland
Genre/Style	English, Scottish, Shetland/Orkney
Meter/Rhythm	Jig/Quadrille, March/Marche
Key/Tonic of	A
Accidental	3 sharps
Mode	Ionian (Major)
Time signature	6/8
History	Scotland/Shetland/Orkney"Scotland/Shetland/Orkney" is not in the list (IRELAND(Munster), IRELAND(Connaught), IRELAND(Leinster), IRELAND(Ulster), SCOTLAND(Argyll and Bute), SCOTLAND(Perth and Kinross), SCOTLAND(Dumfries and Galloway), SCOTLAND(South Ayrshire), SCOTLAND(North East), SCOTLAND(Highland), ...) of allowed values for the "Has historical geographical allegiances" property.
Structure	AABB
Editor/Compiler	Robert Bremner
Book/Manuscript title	Book:Scots Reels
Tune and/or Page number	p. 34
Year of publication/Date of MS	c. 1757
Artist	Biography:Boys of the Lough
Title of recording	Boys of the Lough (The)
Record label/Catalogue nr.	Shanachie 79002
Year recorded	1973
Media
Score ()

BRIDE'S A BONNIE THING, THE. AKA - "The Bride has a Bonnie Thing." AKA and see "Scotland." English, Scottish, Shetland; March or Jig. A Major. AEae or Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Bremner, Brody, Cooke): AAB (Gow). A Scottish tune played on the Shetland Island of Unst as a march; it is a variation of the tune of the same name printed in early Scottish collections. John Stickle played the tune in the key of G; Tom Anderson in A (AEae). It was the traditionally played to welcome the bride into the ben (best) room after the wedding, and thus has had some renewed currency in modern times as a wedding processional among trad enthusiasts. The piece appears in James Oswald's collection, but Glen finds it first printed by Robert Bremner in his 1757 Scots Reels. That volume was issued the same year that London publishers Charles and Samuel Thompson printed the tune in their Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1 (1757), albeit under the much more risqué title "The Bride has a Bonnie Thing." James Oswald again printed the tune a few years later in his Caledonian Pocket Companion (Book VIII, p. 21, London, 1760) with the same title the Thompson's employed (which appears to have been the original one).

Sources for notated versions: Tom Anderson and Aly Bain (Shetland) [Brody]; John Stickle (Unst, Shetland) [Cooke].

Printed sources: Bremner (Scots Reels), c. 1757; p. 34. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 57. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 413. Cooke (The Fiddle Tradition of the Shetland Isles), 1986; Ex. 31, p. 84. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 3, 1806; p. 25. Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1), 1757; No. 28.

Recorded sources: Philo 2019, Tom Anderson and Aly Bain- "The Silver Bow." Shanachie 79002, "The Boys of the Lough" (1973). Trailer LER 2086, Boys of the Lough- "First Album."

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X:2
T:Bride has a Bonnie Thing, The
M:6/8
L:1/8
B:Thompson's Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1 (London, 1757)
Z:Transcribed and edited by Fynnian Titford-Mock, 2007
Z:abc's:AK/Fiddler's Companion 
K:Amix
eAA ecc|fBB Baf|eAA ecc|eAA ecc|fdd ecc|
fBB Baf|eAA ecc|eAA Aaf::e3 f/g/af|e2A ABc|
e3 (f/g/a)f|g2B Bcd|e3 (f/g/a)f|(ec)e (ae)g|(fd)f (ec)e|fBB Bcd:||