Annotation:Jolly Toper
X:1 T:Jolly Toper M:C L:1/8 R:Reel B:Straight and Skillern – Two Hundred and Four Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1 (c. 1775, No. 10, p. 5) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A e2|cAAA (3cde dc|dBBc (3def ed|cAAA a2 gf|ecBc A2:| |:e2|ac'ba bgfe|fgaf ecBA|FAGB Aagf|ecBc A2:|]
JOLLY TOPER. English, Country Dance Tune (whole time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Toper = Tosspot, a drunkard. The are other 18th century airs by this name, including this English broadside [1]:
With my pipe in one hand, and my jug in the other,
TI'll drink to my neighbors and friends;
All care in a whiff of tobacco I'll smother,
For life I know shortly must end.
For while Ceres most kindly refills my brown jug
With good liquor I'll make myself mellow;
In a an old wicker chair I'll seat myself snug,
Like a jolly, true-hearted fellow.
See also "Glân meddwdod mwyn."