Annotation:Dumfries Volunteers (The)
Tune properties and standard notation
DUMFRIES VOLUNTEERS, THE. New England, Polka. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The name Dumfries means 'stronghold by the little wood', from the Celtic root-word dun, meaning a fortified place. See note for "Dumfries House" for more information on Dumfries. The Dumfries Volunteers were a militia unit raised in 1795 in response to the threat from Republican France, commanded by Arentz Schulyer de Peyster, a Dutchman who had fought in the American War of Independence. He had married the daughter of a former Provost of Dumfries and had retired to . Robert Burns joined the Volunteers for a short time, and penned this song as a result:
Does haughty Gaul invasion threat?
Then let the louns beware, Sir!
Thereâs WOODEN WALLS upon our seas,
And VOLUNTEERS on shore, Sir:
The Nith shall run to Corsincon,
The Criffel sink in Solway
Ere we permit a foreign foe
On British ground to rally!
Weâll neâer permit a foreign foe
On British ground to rally!
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Miller & Perron (101 Polkas), 1978; No. 38.
Recorded sources: