Annotation:Pitt on Your Shirt on Monday

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PITT ON YOUR SHIRT ON MONDAY. Scottish, Scottish Measure or March. D Major (Alburger): F Major (Emmerson, Skene). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (in the original 16 bars of variations follow). The melody is included in the Skene Manuscript (c. 1615-20) and Dauney's Ancient Scottish Melodies (1838). Emmerson notes that the tune presages the "Jacky Tar" type of hornpipe tunes of a century later, with its long closing eighth-note runs.

Dauney explains that the title refers to the buckling on of armor or chain mail on Monday. Musters, or military rendezvous called weapon-schawings, were customary in Scotland from early times and took place annually. These allowed the administrators of the counties to raise troops, take count of military effectives and to organize them into captains and companies. Men of all stations were required to participate, according to their rank. The custom was revived by James V in the mid-16th century, who decreed that the weapon-schawing was to take place "on the morne after Law-Sunday nixt-to-cum" (Law-Sunday, or Low-Sunday, was the first Sunday after Easter). Dauney thought the tune to be a bagpipe tune in the style of a march, to be played by pipers to warn people of their duty to attend.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 3, p. 17. Emmerson (Rantin’ Pipe and Tremblin’ String: A History of Scottish Dance Music), 1971; No. 28, p. 128.

Recorded sources:

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