Annotation:Beggar Boy (The)
BEGGAR BOY, THE. English, Country Dance Tune (6/4 time). C Major (Chappell): D Minor (Barlow, Johnson): G Minor (Barnes, Sharp). Standard tuning (fiddle). ABB (Sharp): AABC (Chappell): AABB (Barlow, Barnes, Johnson). The air appears in its earliest printing in John Playford's first edition of his English Dancing Master (1651), and continued to be included in the long-running series through the seventh edition (1686). Chappell (1859) notes several ballads were written to the tune, as was the convention of the period with a popular melody. Graham Christian[1] suggests the title may be associated with Richard Broome's play The Court Beggar, which played at the Cockpit Theatre in 1640, a few years before the Cromwellian closing of the theaters. The play was a social satire having to do with "the projector," what we would now call a speculator or entrepreneur, explains Graham. There was dancing involved, particularly at the end when five men give a display to win the hand of a merry widow, who joins in a final dance. "In one of these dances, the other characters tear off the outer layers of the projectors' clothing to reveal ragged clothing beneath--hence their genuine 'beggary'."
- ↑ "Tell Me More," CDSS News, #186, Sept./Oct. 2005