Annotation:Chester Castle (1)
Tune properties and standard notation
CHESTER CASTLE [1]. AKA and see "New Hornpipe," "Grant's Rant." English, Reel; Scottish, Scots Measure. England, North-West. G Major (Hardings): D Major (Aird): F Major (McGlashan). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The name Chester (Cheshire) is an Anglo-Saxon form (ceaster) of the roman word castra, or camp. The Romans founded a fortress at Chester, called Deva, home to the XXth Legion. It later was a Saxon stronghold and the last major town to fall to the Normans, in 1071. The castle itself was originally a motte type built by William the Conqueror soon after. It was improved over the years, but finally was largely replaced between 1788 and 1822 with neo-Classical buildings by Thomas Harrison. Charles I sought refuge in the city during the English Civil War, and from the city wall saw his troops defeated at the battle of Rowton.
The melody appears in a few period musicians' manuscript copy books in the United States, including those of Silas Dickinson (1800, Amherst, Mass.) and William Patten (c. 1800?, Phila.?).
Printed sources: Aird (Selections of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs), vol. II, 1785; No. 19, p. 7. Hardings All Round Collection, 1905; No. 76, p. 23. Knowles (Northern Frisk), 1988; No. 11. McGlashan (Collection of Scots Measures), c. 1780; p. 18. Stewart (A Select Collection of Scots English Irish and Foreign Airs Jiggs & Marches), 1788; p. 81