Annotation:Through the Wood Laddie (1)
X:1 T:Throw the Wood Laddie [1] M:3/4 L:1/8 B:Alexander Stuart – “Musick for Allan Ramsay’s Collection part 4” B:(Edinburgh, c. 1724, pp. 90-91) F: https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/rbc/id/3030 Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:F V:1 FC|D2 FG G>F/G/4|A4 fc|d2 (fd)(cA)|G4 FG|A3 cAG|A2F2 FG|AGAcAG| A2F2C2|D2 FG (G>F/G/4)|A4 fg|(ag)(fd)(cA)|G3 ABc|d2 (fd)(cA)|c2 (dc)(AG)|A2 D2 E2|F4:| |:fc|d2 fg g2|a4 fg|a2 (ba)(gf)|g4 fg|a3 bag|a2f2 fg|agabag|a2f2c2| d2 fg g2|a4 fg|agfdcA|G3 ABc|d2 (fd)(cA)|c2 (dc)(AG)|A2 D2E2|F4:| V:2 clef = bass F,,2|B,,2A,,2C,2|F,F,,A,,C, A,,2|B,,2D,2F,2|CC,E,G, C,2|F,2F,,2E,2|F,2A,2C2|F,2F,,2C,2| F,E,F,G,F,E,|B,2A,2C,2|F,E,F,G,F,E,|F,E,D,B,, F,2|C,2E,2G,2|B,2B,,2F,2|A,2F,2E,2|F,2B,,2C,2|F,2F,,2:| |:F,2|B,2A,2E,2|F,F,,A,,C, F,E,|F,2F,,2C,2|CC,E,G,A,G,|F,2A,2C2|F,E,F,G,F,E,|F,2F,,2C,2|F,2A,2F,2| B,2A,2C,2|F,F,,A,,C,G,,2|F,E,D,B,, F,F,,|C,2E,2G,2|B,,2D,2F,2|A,2F,2C,2|F,2B,,2C,2|F,2F,,2:|
THROUGH THE WOOD, LADDIE [1]. AKA – “Through the Woods Lady.” Scottish, Slow Air (3/4 time). F Major: G Major (O’Farrell). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Kershaw): AABB (Gow, O’Farrell): AABBCCDD (Johnson). Allan Ramsay wrote words to the tune which were printed in his multi-volume Tea Table Miscellany (vol. i, 1723). The melody appears twice (as "Throw the Wood Ladie") in the James Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768), but it was earlier published by William McGibbon (with variations) in 1742. The tune was heard in two ballad operas: John Gay’s Polly (1729, No. 57), the followup to his immensely successful Beggar's Opera, and James Ralph’s The Fashionable Lady; or Harlequin’s Opera (1730, No. 64). Robert Burns considered the tune for a song but rejected it, writing his publisher in September, 1793: “’Thro’ the wood, laddie.’ I am decidedly of opinion that both in this (tune) and ‘There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame,’ the second or high part of the tune being a repetition of the first part an octave higher, is only for instrumental music, and would be much better omitted in singing.”
In England versions were entered into the Kershaw manuscript (see below), and the melody appears in the William Tildesley manuscript (Swinton, Lancashire), from around 1860, under the title “Through the Woods Lady.”
