Annotation:Aldridge's Rant

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ALDRIGE'S RANT. AKA and see "Highland Reel (A)." Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC. The title refers to the renowned stage performer Robert Aldridge (b.c. 1738-1793), whom Chambers describes as 'a famous pantomimist and dancing master'. The melody was first printed in Charles and Samuel Thompson's Compleat Collection, vol. 3 (London, 1773). As with numerous other tunes from the Thompson's 1773 collection, it was entered into the 1780 music manuscript copybook of fiddlers John and William Pitt Turner (Norwich, Conn.). Glasgow publisher James Aird included the tune in his Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 5 (1797, No. 12, p. 5) as the generically-titled "Highland Reel (A)." The tune is ancestral to the Irish reel "Humors of Ballyconnell (1) (The)," famously recorded by Sligo fiddler Michael Coleman in the 78 RPM era.

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