Annotation:Maid and the Magpie (1) (The)
X:1 T:Maid and the Magpie [1], The L:1/8 M:C| S:Hodsoll's Collection of Popular Dances No. 24 K:C G|c2 ec AcGc|AcGc Bcde|c2 ec AcGc|(3ABc (3Bcd ecc:| |:d|(3efg ge fafd|(3Bcd dB egec|(3ABc cB Adfd|(3ABc (3Bcd ecc:|
The story of the maid and the magpie was the subject of several 19th century works of literature and the stage, including an opera by Rossini (La gazza ladra, 1817). A popular version, La Pie Voleuse was playing in a London theatre during the summer of 1815. The basic plot involves Annette, a well-born servant girl, who is accused of stealing a spoon and a fork from her masters, the good farmer Gerard and his wife, the suspicious Dame Gerard. The evidence against her--thanks to an outrageously unlikely series of plot events--is very damning indeed, but, at the last second, the pet magpie is discovered (by Blazeau, Annette's worthy lover) to have been the thief. Annette is freed from the gallows. Especially noteworthy is the role of the local Justice. He initially makes sexual advances toward Annette, but, when he is refused, he vows revenge upon her. It is at this moment that the case of the stolen silver comes before him, and he tries it with furious enthusiasm. For the Justice, the case becomes a scene of vengeance rather than a dispassionate search for truth. At the very end, when Annette is cleared by the chance discovery made by her beloved Blazeau, "Nothing remained for him [Justice] but--to hang the magpie."
