Annotation:Jolly Widow (The)
X:1 T:Jolly Widow, The M:3/2 L:1/4 R:Country Dance B:John Young - Second Volume of the Dancing Master (London, 1710) K:Gmin d/c/B/A/ B/c/B/A/ GG/A/|BA/B/ c/B/A/G/ ^FA|d/c/B/A/ B/c/B/A/ G/^F/G/A/|B/A/B/c/ d^f g2:| |:b/a/g/f/ gd cB|Ag f/d/c/B/ AF|d/c/B/A/ B/A/B/c/ d/g/^f/a/|g/d/c/B/ A/B/c/d/ BG:|]
JOLLY WIDOW, THE. AKA and see "Aldersgate Bars." English, Country Dance (3/4 time). G Minor. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune first appears [1] in the first edition of the Second Volume of the Dancing Master (1710), printed in London by John Young, successor to the Playford publishing concerns. It was retained by Young in the subsequent volumes, ending with the fourth of 1728. The melody (and dance) were picked up the the Walshes, and appears in the Second Book of the Compleat Country Dancing-Master (London, 1719) and in The Compleat Country Dancing-Master, Volume the Sixth (London, 1754). By mid-18th century the tune and dance were being printed by London publishers (John Walsh the younger, John Johnson) under the title "Aldersgate Bars" (The Aldersgate Bars marked the limits of the London city liberties at the north end of Aldersgate Street).
The 'jolly widow' was a stock character in period stage plays and operas[1].
