Annotation:Devil on two Sticks (The)
DEVIL ON TWO STICKS, THE. English, Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). One part. The melody is unique to London publishers Charles and Samuel Thompson's 1757 country dance collection.
The title invokes the comic novel Le Diable Boiteux by Wikipedia:Alain-René_Lesage (1668–1747) originally published in 1707, translated to English as The Devil on Two Sticks and published in London in 1708. The demon Asmodeus is the titular Devil on Two Sticks, guiding Don Cleophas Leandro Perez Zambullo through the follies and farces of Madrid and its inhabitants.
The 'devil on two sticks' (the diabolo) is also a juggling prop that involves a spool and string tossed by two sticks. It was derived from the Chinese yo-yo.
See also Straight & Skillern's "Devil upon Two Sticks (The)," a different jig.
