Annotation:Carle He Came O'er the Craft (The)

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X:1 T:Carle he came o’er the Craft, The M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Country Dance Tune B:Aird – Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 1 (1782, No. 55, p. 19) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Amix A>BAe|cAce|gddc|Bc/d/ BG| A>BAe|cAce|aeed|cd/e/ cA:| aAAB|cdef|gGGA|B/c/d BG| AA/A/ a2|ge a2|aeed|c/d/e cA:|]


CARLE HE CAME O'ER THE CRAFT, THE. Scottish; Air, Reel or Strathspey (cut time). A Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Gow): AABB (Aird, Petrie): AABB' (Athole). A carle in Scottish usage is a 'bloke' or common man.

Early versions of the melody appear in John Watts' Musical Miscellany, vol 3 (London, 1730, p. 110) and William Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius, vol. 1 (London, 1733). Dance settings of the tune appear in Scottish musician and dancing master David Young's MacFarlan Manuscript (c. 1740, No. 11), Neil Stewart's Collection of the Newest and Best Reels or Country Dances (Edinburgh, 1761), James Aird's Selection of Scotch, English, Irish, and Foreign Airs, vol 1 (Glasgow, 1782), and Wilson's Companion to the Ball Room (London, 1816). Lyrics to the song version begin:

The carle he came o'er the croft,
And his beard new shav'n,
He look'd at me, as he been daft,
The carle trows that I wad hae him.
Hout awa' I winna hae him!
Na, forsooth, I winna hae him!
For a' his beard new shav'n,
Ne'er a bit will I hae him. (Cunningham, Songs of Scotland, 1825)

The country dance version printed by London publisher T. Straight (1783, p. 5) is congruent in the second strain, and, while the first strain has a harmonic resemblance to other versions, it differs melodically. See also the similar "Port a' Bhodaich."

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - The music manuscript collection [1] of musician and instrument maker and repairer Michael J. Dunn (1855 - 1935), a native of County Laois who emigrated to the United States in 1880. Dunn soon made his way to Milwuakee and made a career in the Milwaukee Fire Department, attaining the rank of Captain. Dunn was also a fiddler and uilleann piper.

Printed sources : - Aird (Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 1), 1782, No. 55, p. 19. Anderson (Anderson's Budget of Strathspeys, Reels & Country Dances), c. 1820; p. 20. Petrie (Third Collection of Strathspey Reels), 1802; p. 25. Straight (24 Favourite Dances for the Year 1783), 1783; p. 5. Wilson (Companion to the Ball Room), 1816; p. 35.

Recorded sources: -

See also listing at
See the standard notation transcription of David Young's version in the MacFarlan MS (c. 1740) [2]


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