Annotation:Lads a Bunchum (1)

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LADS A BUNCHUM [1]. AKA and see "Balance A Straw," "Captain and His Whiskers (The)." English, Morris Dance Tune (2/2 {Karpeles & Raven} or 4/4 time {Mallinson}). F Major (Bacon, Karpeles and Raven): G Major (Mallinson). Standard tuning. AAB (Bacon): AABB, x6 (Mallinson). The tune is also called "Balance a Straw," according to Bayard (1981), and both are simplified adaptations of "Tulip (The)," which is a march composed by James Oswald appearing in his Airs for the Spring, c. 1747. Bayard believes the title to be a corruption of "Laud'num Bunches" (Laudanum was a form of the drug opium). This version is from the village of Adderbury, Oxfordshire, in England's Cotswolds, where the following bit of verse is sung in the village's morris tradition at the beginning of the dance:

Oh dear mother, what a fool I be;
Here are six young fellows come a-courting me.
Three are blind and the others can't see,
Oh dear mother, what a fool I be! ... (Bacon)

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Bacon (The Morris Ring), 1974; p. 7. Karpeles & Schofield (100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; p. 37. Mallinson (Mally's Cotswold Morris Book), 1988, vol. 1; No. 10, p. 11. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 77.

Recorded sources: Carthage CGLP 4406, Hutchings et al - "Morris On" (1972/1983).

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