Annotation:Gay Young Squire (The)

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GAY YOUNG SQUIRE, THE. English, Country Dance Tune (cut time). G Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune is attributed to dancing master Nathaniel Kynaston (1683-1757), printed in 1718. Although very little is known about him, Kynaston appears to have been active from 1705 to about 1722 in the Shropshire/Wales border area. The Selattyn parish register in Shropshire records that a "Nathanial Kynaston, gent., & Mrs. Elizabeth Davies, both of Oswestry" married on August 25th, 1719-although whether this was the dancing master is unknown. Kynaston appears to have been a not uncommon name in Shropshire, and the family includes Sir Humphrey Kynaston, a notorious 16th century highwayman and Robin Hood figure, who preyed on the wool merchants of Shrewsbury. The melody is dated 1710. 120 of Kynaston's melodies and dances appear in the surviving Walsh volumes (John Walsh was a London publisher of country dances from 1705; his son, also John Walsh, took over the business and continued publishing until his death in 1766).

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; p. 48.

Recorded sources: Wild Goose Records WGS 314, Belshazzar's Feast - "Mr. Kynaston's Famous Dance" (2003).

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