Annotation:Major John Bruce's Quick Step
MAJOR JOHN BRUCE'S QUICK STEP. AKA - "Bruce's Quickstep," "John Bruce's Quick Step," "Major John Bruce's Favourite." Scottish, March (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. James Aird dedicated his collection to "the Volunteer and Defensive Bands of Great Britain and Ireland," a reference to the bands of the many home defense units that sprang up during the late 19th century wars with France. The melody appears in a few period musicians' manuscripts: those of fiddler John Fife (probably Perthshire and at sea, begun in 1780 and continuing through 1804), H.S.J. Jackson (Wyresdale, Lancashire, 1823), and flute player Thomas Molyneau (Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 1788). Wigton, Cumbria, multi-instrumentalist John Rook entered it twice into his 1840 music manuscript collection as "Bruce's Quickstep" and "John Bruce's Quick Step;" the latter title was also used by Cumbrian musician John Roose in his c. 1850 music manuscript collection. Northumbrian musician William Vickers' "Militia Jigg" shares a similar in the first strain, but differs in the second.
