Annotation:Virgin Queen
X:1 T:Virgin Queen,The. (p)1702.PLFD.502 M:9/4 L:1/4 Q:3/4=120 S:Playford, Dancing Master,Supp.to 11th Ed.,1702. O:England Z:Chris Partington. K:C (cB)A(AE)A(AE)A|(cB)A(AE)A(BG)B| (cB)A(AE)A(AE)A|B2G(GB)G(BG)B:| |:c>decBA(AE)A|c>decd/c/B/A/BGB| c>decBAAEA|B>cdB/c/d/c/B/A/BGB:|
VIRGIN QUEEN. AKA and see "Riding a Mile (1)," "Cummilum," "Is Cuma Liom," "I Don't Care," "Fairest Put on Awhile," "Mad Moll (1)," "Yellow Stockings." English, Air (9/8 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. The title dates from 1703 when it appeared in the supplement to the 11th edition of Henry Playford's Dancing Master [1], it was retained through the end of the long-running series with the 18th edition of 1728. The tune, however, had previously been published by Playford as "Mad Moll (1)" in his 1698 edition of that work. Swift wrote a song, called "O My Kitten," to the tune. Philippe Varlet suggests that “The Virgin Queen” is the ancestor of the Irish melody "Humors_of_Whiskey_(2)_(The)" and is related to the double jigs "Langstrom's Pony" and "Mooncoin Jig (The).”
Antiquarian William Chappell (A Collection of National English Airs, 1840, p. 176) quotes Stafford Smith in the preface to Musica Antiqua (p. 3), who remarked the a number of early English melodies (including "Puddings and Pies") were "derived from the same source--the Minstrels; and will be found, on examination, to have sprung from the minstrel practice of descanting or singing extempore on the plain chant or plain song of the Church: and some passages of the plain song, as exhibited in the Formula, according to the use of Salisbury, as established in 1077 by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, are so evidently the basis to dance tunes still remaining, that there can be little doubt that the melody, or upper part, was formed upon them." Tunes in this category are "Stingo," "Puddings and Pies," "Three Sheepskins" and others.
