Annotation:Annan Polka
X:3 T:Annan Polka S:MS 11, c. 1850, Browne Coll. Armitt Library, Ambleside M:2/4 L:1/16 K:G Bc|d2g2B2g2|f2AB cBAB|c2a2A2a2|g2Bc dcBc| d2g2B2g2|f2AB cBAB|c2a2A2f2|[1g4g2:|[2g4g4|| |:Bcde dcBA|B2G2 GFG2|A2E2F2D2|GFGA gedc| Bcde dBcA|B2G2 GFG2|A2E2F2D2|G2B2 G4:|
ANNAN POLKA. Scottish, Polka (2/4 time). G Major ('A' and 'B' parts) & D Major ('C' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BBCC(Trio). Annan is located in Dumfries, Scotland. The Bruces were Lords of Annandale from the time of David I (c. 1124) who conferred the lands on Robert de Brus, who was the ancestor of Robert I, king of Scotland in 1306. Edward Balliol was defeated at the battle of Annan in 1332. However, the "Annan Polka" is not Scottish, but is derived from Johann Strauss Sr.'s "Beliebte Annen Polka," composed in 1842. Seattle fiddler Vivian Williams, who discovered the connection, notes that the Strauss piece should not be confused with Johann Strauss Jr.'s "Annen Polka," written in 1852. The melody appears in the mid-19th century Browne Family music manuscripts, which are actually a collection of different manuscripts in different hands that was in the possession of the Brown Family (of Troutbeck, Lake District, Cumbria, England) prior to their being secured by the Armitt Library in Ambleside. It was also entered (as "Annon Polka" and "Amen Polka" in the mid-19th century music manuscript of William Winter, a shoemaker and violin player who lived in West Bagborough in Somerset. The particular manuscript that contains the "Annan Polka" probably dates to c. 1850, according to Chris Partington.
