Annotation:Peacock's Fancy (1)

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PEACOCK'S FANCY [1]. AKA and see "Footy," “Footy Agyen the Wa’.” “Pin her against the Wall.” English, Jig. England, Northumberland. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Although not originally written for the small pipes, this tune owes its celebrity with pipers to the circumstances that it was a great favourite with John Peacock and the later players. The song of 'Footy', which is sung to it, was better adapted to the tastes of a ruder age than to those of the present time" (Bruce & Stokoe). John Peacock was a legendary Northumbrian piper, credited with extending the range of the instrument through the innovation of adding keys to the plain chanter. Although renowned in his time, Peacock fell on hard times toward the end of his life, and had to rely on the generosity of others in the piping community. "…Peacock (was a) celebrated Northumbrian piper, who came to Newcastle originally from Morpeth, and was perhaps the best small-pipes player who lived, although not a scientific performer. He was one of the Incorporated Company of Town Waits in Newcastle, and in 1805 in conjunction with William Wright, published a small oblong book of Tunes for the Northumbrian Small Pipes, of which only two or three copies are now known to exist" (Bruce & Stokoe). Peacock lived from 1754(or 6) to 1817 and was taught by William Lamshaw at a time when the smallpipes were just beginning to decline in popularity. The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800. The tune (as “Footy again the wall”) and verses were entered into the c. 1812 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician John Bell (1783-1864).

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Bruce & Stokoe (Northumbrian Minstrelsy), 1882; p. 175. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 117.

Recorded sources:

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