Annotation:Derbyshire Morris Reel
X:1 T:Derbyshire Morris Reel T:Winster Reel M:6/8 L:1/8 K:A E|A>BA B2c|d>cB e>dc|A>BA B2c|eBG A2:|| A|a>gf e>dc|B>cd c>BA|a>gf e>dc|B>cd c2e| a>gf e>dc|B>cd c>BA|a>gf e>dc|B>cB A2||
DERBYSHIRE MORRIS REEL. AKA and see "Morris Reel (1)," "Winster Morris Reel" English, Morris Dance Tune (6/8 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Sharp): AABB,AABB,A (Bacon). The tune is not the quick duple time 'reel', but rather a morris dance and accompanying 6/8 time jig, collected in the village of Winster, Derbyshire, England (east Mid-Lands). The Winster morris team has died and been revived several times during the 20th century (World Wars ended two different teams), although the present team dates from 1979, making it one of the more long-lived revivals. Cecil Sharp saw the Derbyshire team in 1908, and noted down some dances as well as tunes from an un-named melodeon player.
The name Derby is Danish in origin, stemming from the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the Dark Ages, and means 'deer village' perhaps for the herds of deer found there (Matthews, 1972).
The first strain of the melody resembles the southwest-Pennsylvania collected "Mule Song (The)."