Annotation:Will ye go to the Broom
X:1 T:Will ye go to the Broom N:William Christie (1778-1849) was a dancing master, fiddler N:and composer from Cuminestown, Aberdeenshire. M:3/4 L:1/8 R:Air N:”Old” Q:"Andante" B:Christie - Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Hornpipes, B:Waltzes &c. (Edinburgh, 1820, p. 24) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G ~G>A|B2B2 (d>B)|TA2 {GA}G2 {B}TA2|{GA}G2g2d2|{d}e4 (d>e)| g2d2e2|d2G2 (G>B)|(A>G)E3TF|[B,4G4]:| |:~d>e|g2 ~(g>a) {ga}b>g|{f}Ta4 {ga}g2 (eg)|(dB) (gf)(ed)|{d}e4 (d>e/2f/4)| (gf) (ed) (Bg)|{e}d2G2 (G/A/B/c/)|{B}(A>G) E3TF|[B,4G4]:|]
WILL YOU GO TO THE BROOM. AKA - "Allan McLean," "I ance knew Content." Scottish, Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Will you go to the broom?" appears in Cuminestown, Aberdeenshire, fiddler-composer, dancing master and postmaster biography:William Christie's (1778-1849)Collection of Strathspeys, Reels, Hornpipes, Waltzes &c., published in Edinburgh in 1820. Christie remarks the air was "Old" in his time. The melody was used as the vehicle for the song "I ance knew Content," which was collected by Christie and his son (also William Christie) and printed in the latter's Traditional Ballad Airs vol. II (Edinburgh, 1881). The younger Christie was a cleric (Chaplain to the Duke of Richmond and Gordon) and a noted song collector. In William-the-younger's note for the song he records the his father arranged "Will you go to the broom?" from the singing of his mother. The younger Christie is responsible for marrying the air with words "I ance knew Content"by Thomas Lyle, a surgeon in Glasgow who was the author of the song "Kelvin Grove."
