Annotation:Softly Good Tummas
X:1 T:Softly Good Tummas M:4/4 L:1/8 Q:360 K:F FE |: "Dm" DEFD "A" EFGE | "Dm" F2 D2 "A" E2 ^C2 |"Dm" D2 A,2 "C" E2 A,2 | "Bb" F2 A,2 "C" E2 A,2 | "Dm" DEFD "A" EFGE | "Gm" F2 D2 "A" E2 ^C2 |"Bb" D2 A,2 "C" E2 A,2 |1 "Dm" F2 D4 ^C2 :|2 "Dm" F2 D4|| |:"Dm" d^c|"Dm" defd "A" efge|"Gm" f2 d2 "A" e2 ^c2|"Dm"d2 A2 "A" e2 A2|"Gm" f2 A2 "A" e2 ^c2| "Dm" defd "A" efge|"Dm" fgaf "A" efge| "Gm" defd "A" ^cdec|"Dm" d6 :|
SOFTLY GOOD TUMMAS. English, Country Dance Tune (cut time). D Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA’BB. The melody was composed by dancing master Nathaniel Kynaston (1683-1757). Although very little is known about him, Kynaston appears to have been active from 1705 to about 1722 in the Shropshire/Wales border area. Walsh published some 120 of Kynaston’s tunes and dances over several publications; this tune from a 1718. 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 can be heard in the soundtrack of the 2007 historical film Becoming Jane.
