Annotation:Harmonica (The)
X:1 T:Harmonica, The M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig B:Kerr - Merry Melodies, vol. 1, p. 29 (c. 1880) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G d|g2d B2g|e2c A2G|FGA DEF|G2B d2d| g2d B2g|e2c A2G|FGA DEF|G3 G2:|| d|c2a a2c|B2g g2B|ABc def|g2a b2d| c2a a2c|B2g g2b|agf ed^c|dFG ABc| dBg ecg|dBg ecg|dcB BAG|FAA ABc| dBg ecg|dBg ecg|dcB AGF|GBd g2||
HARMONICA, THE. English, Scottish; Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'B. The title may refer to the mouth organ, a free-reed instrument commonly called the harmonica, invented in 1821 by German clock maker Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann. Matthias Hohner, still the most famous maker today, began manufacturing the instrument in 1857 from a factory in Trossingen, Germany. The title may also refer to the glass harmonica, an instrument credited to Irish musician Richard Puckeridge who performed in London on a set of upright goblets filled with varying amounts of water. Benjamin Franklin perfected a mechanical version of the instrument that he called the armonica.
The tune was entered as an untitled country dance in the 1850 music manuscript collection (p. 50) of William Winter (1774-1861), a shoemaker and violin player who lived in West Bagborough in Somerset.
