Annotation:Girl with the Blue Dress On (1) (The)
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GIRL WITH THE BLUE DRESS ON [1], THE. AKA and see "Babes in the Woods (1)," "Din Tarrant's," "Pat McNicholas'," "Tony Lowe's Polka (1)." English, Polka and/or Morris Dance Tune (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A standard in the English country and morris dance repertoire, it is often heard played (under alternate titles) at Irish ceilis and American contra dances as well. The melody is used for a polka step in the North-West morris dance tradition of England. The 'B' part is melodically similar to the "Redowa Polka."
There is some (unsubstantiated) speculation that the title "Girl with the Blue Dress On" is a nautical analogy, with 'girl' alluding to a ship's figurehead and 'blue dress referring to the 'deep blue sea'. If true, there is no information on whether the phrase predates its use as a tune title. The phrase and title of a song (set to a different melody) also appear in Sea Shanty repertoire.
O wake her, O shake her,
O shake that girl with the blue dress on,
O Johnny come to Hilo;
Poor old man.
... [Sharp, English Folk-Chanteys, p. 19.]
However, the "girl with the blue dress on" also is mentioned in non-nautical musical literature as well, including African-American and blackface minstrel song literature. For example, the phrase "girl with the blue dress on" is documented in a Black muledriver's song [Scarborough, Dorothy and Ola Lee Gulledge, On the Trail of Negro Folk-songs, (1925) p. 231], and in a minstrel song,[Peterson's Christy’s and White’s Ethiopian Melodies, 1855, p. 65].
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: S. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician No. 4: Collection of Fine Tunes), 1983 (revised 1991, 2001); p. 8. Kennedy (Fiddler's Tune Book), vol. 2, 1954; p. 25. Mallinson (100 Irish Polkas), 1997; No. 57, p. 22. McDermott (Allan's Irish Fiddler), c. 1920's; No. 120 (appears as 2nd tune of "Waves of Tory" medley). Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 146. Sannella, Balance and Swing (CDSS). Wade (Mally's North-West Morris Book), 1988; p. 12.
Recorded sources:
See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [3]