Annotation:Mother Midnight's Taste

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MOTHER MIDNIGHT'S TASTE. English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "'Mother Midnight' was a cant term for a mid-wife-bawd in the early 18th century. The London Spy offers these synonyms for "Mother Midnight": "Matron in Iniquity," "Reverend Doctress in Debauchery," "old Mother of the Maids," "Mother Belzebub," "Mother Grope." [1]. There is also a complementary "Father Midnight."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Longman & Co. (Twenty Four Country Dances for the Year 1770), 1770; p. 31. Longman, Lukey & Broderip (Bride's Favourite Collection of 200 Select Country Dances, Cotillons), 1775; p. 31.

Recorded sources:

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