Annotation:Stangate Bridge
X: 1 T:Stangate Bridge. JJo5.185 B:J.Johnson Choice Collection Vol 5, 1750 Z:vmp.Ruairidh Greig 2015 www.village-music-project.org.uk M:C| L:1/4 Q:1/4=150 F:http://www.cpartington.plus.com/Links/Johnson/JohnsonVol5(Mar15).abc K:G BB(d/c/)(B/A/)|GGG2|(e/f/g)dg|Tc2B2| (G/A/B)GD|(F/G/A)FD|(B/^c/d){f}e^c|d2D2:| |:dd(e/d/c/B/)|caa2|cc(d/c/B/A/)|dgg2| eeef|g2G2|(F/G/A)"2nd Strain once"FD|(B/c/d)BG| cc^cc|d2=c2|BGFD|(B/A/G)FD| (e/f/g) (f/g/a)|g2c2|BG{G/}F/E/D|G2G,2:|
STANGATE BRIDGE. AKA and see "Westminster Bridge (2)." English, Country Dance Tune (cut time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABC. The melody was printed in John Johnson’s Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 5 (London, 1750). The name 'Stangate Bridge' is something of a misnomer, according to John Cave-Browne's Lambeth Palace and its Associations (1882, p. 30):
Frequent mention is made by old historians of bridges as existing on the Thames at an early period; for instance, in 1357, John de Sheppey, Bishop of Rochester, obtained permission from Archbishop Islip to erect one at Stangate for the convenience of his own dependents and friends. But it must be borne in mind that the word 'pons' used by the old Monkish chroniclers did not always mean a 'bridge' in the modern sense of the word, but more often a 'quay', or 'stairs', from which travellers might take boat to cross the river. And old maps of London show that the river-bank on either side was well supplied with such landing-places, under the name of bridges.
