Annotation:Bernard's Well
X:1 T:Bernard's Well M:C| L:1/8 K:Gmix c|B(dd)g eccd|BGGB AFFA|B(dd)g eccd|BGAB G/G/G (Gc)| B(dd)g eccd|BGGB AFFA|B(dd)g egdg|BGAB G/G/G G|| c|BGdG BGdB|AFcF AFcF|BGdG BGdB|AFcA G/G/G (Gc)| BGdG BGdB|AFcF AFcA|BGdG Bcdg|BGAB G/G/G G||
BERNARD'S WELL. AKA and see "Barnard's Will," "St. Bernard's Well." Scottish, Reel. G Mixolydian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The melody was first published by Neil Stewart (or Steuart) in The Newest and Best Reels or Country Dances (1761, p. 25), according to Glen, and also appears in the 'Gillespie Manuscript of Perth (1768). Stewart prints the reel again under the title "Shamboe Breeches." Johnson (1984) identifies that the first strain is based on a 16th century Italian chord progression style called passamezzo moderno.
Bernard's Well, a mineral spring by the Water of Leith, on the outskirts of Edinburgh's New Town, and was "an Edinburgh landmark for those who took the waters to improve their health. The value was no doubt more psychological than medical, although the water was said to be 'impregnated with iron and sulpher...and highly diuretic" (Alburger, 1983).
