Annotation:Old Rosin the Beau
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OLD ROSIN THE BEAU. See also "Rosin the Beau," "Rosin the Bow," " "Men of the West (1)," "Cill Cais (Church of Cais)" [pronounced 'kill cash']. English, American; Jig, Air and Waltz. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The popular triple-time melody "Old Rosin the Beau," or "Rosin the Beau," has a varied and widespread history, and has served a number of functions. On the minstrel stage it was one of the frequent songs of the character Mr. Corn Meal, a creation of the white blackface performer Jim "Daddy" Rice, who based his version on that of a street singer he heard in New Orleans. As a dance tune it was cited as commonly played for Orange County, New York, country dances in the 1930's {as "Old Rosin the Bow"} (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly). County Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman recorded a cognate version in New York in the 78 RPM era (in a medley with "Mrs. Kenny") under the title "Men of the West (1)."
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes); No. or p. 16. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book, vol. 1), 1951; No. 99, p. 49. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1880’s; p. 29. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 100. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; p. 23.
Recorded sources: Fretless 119, Rodney and Randy Miller--"Castles in the Air" (played as a waltz).
See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [2]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [3]