Annotation:Nong Tong Paw
X:1 T:Mounseer Nong Tong Paw M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Air B:G. Willig, Philadelphia, single-sheet issue (n.d.) F: https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/031/144 Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A V:1 P:Intro e/d/|c2c c2 B/>A/|A2A z2G|F>GA {c}B2A|G2F E2e| c2e c2e|d>cd B2 E/>D/|C2E C2E|{E}D>CD B,2 e/d/| cde ABc|F2A d2 c/B/|G>AB E2G |A2A A2:| P:Verse (e/d/)|c2c c2B|A2A A2G|(FG) A {c}B2A|{A}G2F E2 (e/d/)| c2c c2B|A2A A2G|F2A G2B|A2A A2e| c2 e c2e|(d>c) d B2e|c2 e c2e|(d>c) d B2e|c2c c2B| A2A A2G|F2F A2A|d2d !fermata!d2B|(GA) B E2G|A2A A2|| P:Instrumental e/>d/|c2e c2e|d>cd B2 E/D/|C2E C2E|{E}D>CD B,2e/d/| cde ABc|F2A {e}d2B/A/|G>AB|E2G|A2A A2:| V:2 clef = bass z|A,3- A,2E,|F,3-F,2C,|D,2C, B,,C,D,|E,2E, E,2z| A,2zA,2z|E,E,E, E,2z|A,,2z,A,,2z|E,E,E, E,2z| A,2z C,2z|D,2C,B,,2D,|E,2E, E,,2E,,|A,,2A,, A,,2:| z|A,2A, A,2E,|F,2F, F,2C,|D,2C, B,,C,D,|E,2E, E,2z| A,2A, A,2E,|F,2F, F,2C,|D,2D, E,2E,|A,2A, A,2z| A,2z A,2z|E,2z E,2z|A,2z A,2z|E,2z E,2z|A,2A, A,2E,| F,2F, F,2C,|D,3 C,3|B,,2B, !fermata!B,,2z|E,3E,,3|A,,2A, A,,2|| z|A,,2zA,,2z|E,2zE,2z|A,,2zA,,2z|E,2zE,2z| sA,2zC,2z|D,2C, B,,2D,|E,2E, E,,2E,,|A,,2A,, A,,2:|
NONG TONG PAW. AKA - "Mounseer Nong Tong Paw," "Nong Tong Pan." English, Air, Country Dance Tune and Jig (6/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Mounseer Nong tong paw" is the name of a comic song written by composer and performer Charles Dibdin (1745–1814) for his musical comedy "The General Election" (in which he sang the song), staged in 1796. He was one of the premier song composers for the English stage in the late 18th century, many of whose works were absorbed into traditional repertoire. Dibdin's original song mocks English and French stereotypes in five eight-line stanzas, particularly "John Bull's" inability to speak or understand French during a trip to Paris. The title is the protagonist's attempt to make sense of the French phrase "Monsieur, je vous n'entends pas" ("Monsieur, I don't understand you").
The word begin:
John Bull, for pastime, took a prance,
Some time ago, to visit France,
To talk of Sciences and Arts,
And knowledge gain in foreign parts:
Monsieur obsequious heard him speak,
And answered him in heathen-Greek,
To all he ask'd—to all he saw—
'Twas "Monsieur, Je vous n'en tende pas!
John to the Palais Royal come,
Its splendour almost struck him dumb;
"I say, whose house is that, there, here?
Hosse! Je vous n'en tends pas, Monsieur:"
"What, Nong tong Paw, again!" cries John,
"This fellow is some mighty don,
No doubt he's plenty for the maw,
I'd breakfast with this Nong Tong Paw.
A poem written by the Romantic writer Mary Shelley as a child, "Mounseer Nongtongpaw", is based on Dibdin's song.
The melody was also entered into the c. 1797–1814 music copybooks of fiddler Ishmael Spicer, of Chatham, Conn., J. Jones (north Shropshire, 1801), William Clavert (Yorkshire, 1812), and R. Hughes (Whitchurch, Shropshire, 1823).
