X: 1
T: Captain Byng
T: An Taoiseac Buinge
T: Colonel Byng
C: Nathaniel Gow (1766-1831)
Z: Frank Weber
N: gelernt von Wilfried Rommelaere, 2003
D: 1994: Karen Tweed: The Silver Spire
N: Chords: | G | G | Am | D |
N: | G | G | Am D | G :|
N: | G | Em | Am | D7 |
N: | G | Em | Am D | G :|
R: Polka
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
K: G maj
g>f ge | d[BG] GA/2B/2 | cA a>g | fd ef |
g>f ge | d[BG] GA/2B/2 | c/2B/2A dF | G2 G2 :|
BG dG | BG GA/2B/2 | cA eA | cA A>c |
BG dG | BG GA/2B/2 | c/2B/2A dF | G2 G2 :|
COLONEL BYNG'S FAVORITE. Scottish, Strathspey. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by Edinburgh fiddler-composer, bandleader and music publisher biography:Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831). "In playing this Tune the 2nd Strain is to be played 8 notes higher alternately." The tune has been transformed into a polka in Irish repertoire under the title "Captain Byng" (see note for that tune for more). It was entered into The Buttery Manuscript[1] (c. 1784-1820, No. 751), the copybook of John Buttery (1784-1854), who joined the 34th Regiment in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, in 1797 and served as a fifer until discharged in 1814. His large ms. contains marches, duty calls, dance tunes and airs. While the tune is set as a reel and not a strathspey in the ms., it may be that Buttery knew to play it with dotted rhythms and 'Scotch snaps'.
Additional notes
Source for notated version: -
Printed sources : - Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 24. Gow (Fourth Collection of Strathspey Dances), 2nd ed., originally 1800; p. 34.