Annotation:Pretty Polly (5)
X:1 T:Pretty Polly [5] M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Reel S:Bayard – Dance to the Fiddle (1981), No. 294-C Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D D>F AA | B/A/B/c/ dd | D>F AA | E/D/E/F/ E>E | D>F AA | B/A/B/c/ dd | d>e f/g/f/e/ | dc d2|| gf e/d/e/f/ | gf e2 | gf e/f/e/d/ | cA A2 | gf e/d/e/f/ | gf e>fe>c | gf e/f/e/d/ | cA/B/ A/G/F/E/ ||
PRETTY POLLY [5]. AKA and see "Peter Kutz" (Pa.), "Hi Bell" (Pa.). American, Reel. USA, southwestern Pa. D Major (Bayard): C Major (Bayard). Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'B. Bayard (1981) identifies this as an international air, appearing in collections from American, the British Isles, and Continental Europe. He thinks the tune was originally French, and that it has been popular in Europe and the British Isles in two main versions; an earlier one (popular throughout the 18th century) and a later one (popular from the early 19th century to "roughly" the present day, and which was the only one to survive in instrumental folk tradition). The earlier version appears under such titles as "Weaver's March (The)," "Gallant Weaver (The)," "Twenty-first of August," "Tenth of June (The)," "Frisky Jenny," "Charles of Sweden," "Come Jolly Bacchus," and "Glorious First of August." Bayard also notes Flemish and French versions dating from 1702 and 1717, which may be ancestral to the British versions of these earlier tunes. The later form of the air he identifies as well known in France and in the British Isles during the 19th century, and he cites several Continental collections in which the tune appears. In America and Britain this form of the melody was known as "In My Cottage Near the Wood," "Coquette (3)," "Cheat (The)" and "Cheat or Swing."
