RATTLE THE CASH [1]. American, Irish, English; Slide or Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune was used for a single step dance in the North-West (England) morris dance tradition. Howe and Kerr both assign the melody an Irish provenance, although there is little of Irish character in the melody. It was included in Patrick O'Flannagan's Hibernia Collection (Boston, 1860), but this hardly an indication of provenance as 'Patrick O'Fannagan' is one of Elias Howe's pseudonyms. In fact, the first strain of "Rattle the Cash" is a 6/8 setting of the Scottish melody "Up and Waur Them A' Willie (1)."
‘Rattle the Cash’ was the name of at least one bay stud, bequeathed in the will of Frances Wren in 1808, late the resident of Wilkinson County, Mississippi Territory, so the phrase was in currency in the early 19th century.
Additional notes
Printed sources : - Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 77. Elias Howe (Third Part of the Musician's Companion), 1844; p. 70. O'Flannagan (The Hibernia Collection), Boston, 1860; p. 17. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 2), c. 1880’s; No. 239, p. 26. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 110. Wade (Mally’s North West Morris Book), 1988; p. 25.
Recorded sources : - Highway Records SHY 7007, Pete & Chris Coe - "Game of all Four" (1979). Wild Goose Records,Issy & David Emeney with Kate Riaz - "Legends and Lovers."
See also listing at : Hear the tune played on fretless banjo by Tim Twiss [1]
