Annotation:Merry Bagpipes (The)

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MERRY BAGPIPES, THE. AKA - "March Boys March, "Northumberland Bagpipes (The)." English, Air and Country Dance Tune (2/2 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BA'. A version appears in Pepys V, circa 1690. The song "The Merry Bagpipes: Or, The Pleasant Pastime betwixt a Jolly Shepherd and a Country Damsel, on a Mid-Summer-Day, in the Morning," to the air of "March, Boys, March", was published on single broadside sheets at the beginning of the 18th century [1]. The lyric begins:

A Shepherd sat him under a Thorn,
he pull'd out his Pipe and began for to play,
It was on a Mid Summers day in the morn,
for honour of that Holy day;
A Ditty he did chant along,
goes to the Town of Cater-bor-dee,
And this was the burthen of his Song,
if thoul't pipe Lad, I'le dance to thee;
To thee, to thee, derry, derry, to thee, &c.

See also note for "Annotation:Northumberland Bagpipes (The)" for more.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 213.

Recorded sources:

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