Annotation:Brags of Washington (The)
X:1 T:Brags of Washington, The M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Air N:Frank Kidson had the tune in two different musician's manuscript N:collections in his possession, one dated 1791. However, he was not N:able to locate it in any printed collections. He suggested "it never N:reached a more exalted station than on a broadside." K:G D|GB Bd|cB AG|GB dg|d3B|cc AA|B2 GB|cA GF|G3:| |:e|dg ge|fd dd|dg ge|f2 dd|dg ge|fddB|cc ce|dc BA| GB Bd|cB AG|GB dg|d3B|c2 AA|BB GB|cA GF|G3:|
BRAGS OF WASHINGTON, THE. AKA and see "Jack the Jolly Ploughboy," "Jolly Plowman (1)," "Jolly Ploughman (1)," "To Rodney We will go." English, Air (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Musical researcher Frank Kidson, writing in around the turn of the 20th century, remarks that he found "Brags of Washington" in two anonymous musicians' manuscript collections in his possession, one dating to 1791. However, he was not able to trace the song to a printed volume or collection, and was forced to suggest that "it never reached a more exalted station than printed on a broadside." In addition to the Kidson ms's, the tune was also included in the large mid-19th century music manuscript collection of biography:John Roose (Manchester, England). Considering the date that Kidson supplied (1791), it is reasonable to conclude "Brags of Washington" referred to General George Washington, who, in 1789 became the first President of the United States.
The tune would have been a familiar one in the closing decades of the 18th century, known as the country dance tune "To Rodney We will go", a reference to wikipedia:George_Brydges_Rodney,_1st_Baron_Rodney (1718-1792), hero of the wikipedia:Battle_of_the_Saintes in 1782. More distantly, it is related to the "Jack the Jolly Ploughboy" family of tunes (particularly the first strain), which has variants in England and Ireland.
