Annotation:Whitehaven Volunteers
X:73 C:Page 37 T:Whitehaven Volunteers. MBe.73 A:England;Cumbria;Towcett B:Matthew Betham MS, Towcett Cumbria, 1815 Z:VMP - Hugh Taylor, 2012 M:2/4 L:1/8 Q:1/4=100 R: N:Someone in a different hand has wrote underneath the title "Whitehaven Volunteers". N:See also a version in Rook from Wigton. N:Has similarities to Petronella, esp the A part. K:G d/c/|BB B/c/A/B/|GGGD|GBdB|e/d/c/B/ Ad/c/| BB B/c/A/B/|GGGD|EcAF|G2- G:| |:d/c/|Bdd e/f/|gd d/e/d/c/|BddB|A/G/A/B/ Ad/c/| Bdd e/f/|g/f/g/a/ gd|BG B/A/G/F/| G2 G:|
WHITEHAVEN VOLUNTEERS. AKA - "March of the Whitehaven Volunteers." English, March or Country Dance Tune (2/4 time). England, Cumbria. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The melody is in a similar vein to “Petronella.” The melody was entered into the 1815 music manuscript collection of Matthew Betham, of Towcett, Cumbria, and the 1840 music manuscript collection of Waverly, Cumbria, musician John Rook. The Whitehaven Volunteers were a Cumbrian militia group formed in 1783 and disbanded in 1815. They and other militia groups of the era were raised for home protection to free regular army troops from garrison duty in England so as to be available for overseas duty. The militia units also were tasked with guarding prisoners of war. Whitehaven, however, had been attacked in 1778 by the Scottish-American naval hero John Paul Jones<ref>Jones was a native of Dumfries who had worked as an apprentice in the shipyards of Whitehaven. He knew the town, its defenses and resources well.<ref> (1747–1792) in the only American raid on English shores during the American Revolutionary War. Jones and his men captured one of the town's forts and set it ablaze, although the conflagration spread with the result that the town was burned. Jones's raid surely increased the vigilance of the Whitehaven Volunteers guarding the town.
A racing purse in the name of the Whitehaven Volunteers (‘The Whitehaven Volunteers’ Plate’) survived until at least until the mid-1860’s when winners for the Whitehaven racecourse were announced in the racing calendars.
"Whitehaven Volunteers" is a maleable tune and is sometimes played as a hornpipe, schottische or barndance, depending on the amount of “swing” or dotted rhythms are employed.
