Annotation:Camptown Races (1)

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CAMPTOWN RACES [1]. AKA - "I bet My Money." American, Air or Polka; English, North-West Morris Tune (4/4 time). G Major (Sweet, Wade): D Major (Person). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Wade): AABB (Person, Sweet). Wade's version is the famous Stephen Foster song melody translated to the North-West Morris tradition (for use with either a polka or single step). In America there is a singing call to the tune for square dancers. Apparently, the melody was collected as a sea shanty called "Banks of Sacramento," whose origins were in the California Gold Rush of 1849. This would seem to predate the Stephen Foster copyright, but the relation, if any, between the two is unclear.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : - Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; p. 22. Mrs. Joe Person (A Collection of Popular Airs), 1889; pp. 11-12. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964; p. 14. Wade (Mally's North West Morris Book), 1988; p. 21. Westrop (120 Country Dances, Jigs, Reels, Hornpipes, Strathspeys, Spanish Waltz etc. for the Violin), c. 1923; No. 46.

Recorded sources: -

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