Annotation:Boy in the Basket (The)

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BOY IN THE BASKET, THE. AKA and see "High Road to Dublin (1) (The)," "Bothár Mór go Baile Átha Cliath (An)," "Skipper's Wedding (The)," "Way to Dublin (The)." English, Jig (9/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Published in Charles and Samuel Thompson's Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3 (1773). The melody appears under this title in the 1770 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers (about whom, unfortunately, nothing is known), and the 1788 music copybook of flute player Ensign Thomas Molyneaux of the 6th Regiment (Shelburne, Nova Scotia). Irish variants of the slip jig go by the titles "High Road to Dublin (3)/An Bothar Mor go Baile Atha Cliath" and "Way to Dublin (The)." Anglican cleric James Goodman (County Cork) included the slip jig in his mid-19th century collection as "Boy in the Basket." It has been suggested that the title may refer to a hot-air balloon ascent. See also the related "Long Room of Scarborough (The)."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Seattle (Great Northern/William Vickers), 1987, Part 3; No. 580. Thompson (Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3), 1773; No. 48.

Recorded sources:

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