Annotation:Give me the girl that's ripe for joy
X:1 T:Give me the girl that's ripe for joy M:C L:1/8 R:March S:Thomas Nixon Jr./Joseph Long copybook (c. 1776-78) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G dc|B2 B>c BdcB|A2 A>A A2 Bc|ddcB AcBA|G2 G>G G2:|| gf|e2 dd d2 (3GBd|c2 BB B2 gf|e2 d>e c2 cB|AGFE D2 dc| B2 B>B BgdB|A2 A>A ABcd|egdB AcBA|G2 G>G G2:|]
GIVE ME THE GIRL THAT'S RIPE FOR JOY. AKA and see "Balance the Straw (1)," "Birmingham March," "Captain Money's March," "Chimes." English, American; March (whole time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Give me the girl..." is one of many descendants of Scottish cellist-composer wikipedia:James_Oswald_(composer)'s (1710-1769) "Tulip (The)," from his Airs for the Spring (c. 1747). In England the melody appears in John Moore's music manuscript collection as "Birmingham March" and, as a morris dance vehicle, as "Balance the Straw (1)" and "Lads a Bunchum (1)," among other titles. In America it was entered into Henry Beck's flute manuscript as "Chimes." The melody was published under the "Give me a girl..." title in Daniel Steele's New and Complete preceptor for the German Flute (Albany, N.Y., 1815). See also the related morris dance tune "Balance the Straw (1)." The march was also entered into the c. 1776-1778 music copybook of fifer Thomas Nixon Jr. [1] (1762-1842), of Framingham, Connecticut. Nixon was a thirteen-year-old who accompanied his father to the battles of Lexington and Concord, and who served in the Continental army in engagements in and around New York until 1780, after which he returned home to build a house in Framingham. The copybook appears to have started by another musician, Joseph Long, and to have come into Nixon’s possession.
See also the Irish derivative member of the tune family, "Wearing of the Green."
