Annotation:Wilson's Wild

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WILSON'S WILD(E). AKA and see "Wolsey's Wild." English, Country Dance Tune (6/4 or 6/8 time). C Major (Chappell, Raven): G Major (Merryweather). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Raven): AABC (Chappell): AA'BBCC' (Merryweather). The tune dates from the mid 16th century. Merryweather notes the earliest record of the tune was when it was used as the vehicle for a ballad called "The Queenes visiting of the Campe at Tilsburie with her entertainment there," which commemorated Queen Elizabeth I's famous "heart and stomach of a King" speech before her mustered militia on August 10th, 1588 (old calender). The ballad was published barely 24 hours after the event. The tune appears under this title in John Playford's Musick's Delight on the Cithren (1666) and, as "Wilson's Wile," in William Ballet's Lute Book (c. 1610).

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Times, vol. 1), 1859; pp. 267 268 (appears as "Wolsey's Wild"). Merryweather (Merryweather’s Tunes for the English Bagpipe), 1989; p. 29. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 10.

Recorded sources:

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