The Fiddler’s Companion

© 1996-2010 Andrew Kuntz

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YA - YEK

 

 

Notation Note: The tunes below are recorded in what is called “abc notation.” They can easily be converted to standard musical notation via highlighting with your cursor starting at “X:1” through to the end of the abc’s, then “cutting-and-pasting” the highlighted notation into one of the many abc conversion programs available, or at concertina.net’s incredibly handy “ABC Convert-A-Matic” at

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html 

 

**Please note that the abc’s in the Fiddler’s Companion work fine in most abc conversion programs. For example, I use abc2win and abcNavigator 2 with no problems whatsoever with direct cut-and-pasting. However, due to an anomaly of the html, pasting the abc’s into the concertina.net converter results in double-spacing. For concertina.net’s conversion program to work you must remove the spaces between all the lines of abc notation after pasting, so that they are single-spaced, with no intervening blank lines. This being done, the F/C abc’s will convert to standard notation nicely. Or, get a copy of abcNavigator 2 – its well worth it.   [AK]

 

 

 

 

Y CRYTHOR LLON (The Merry Fiddler).  Welsh, Jig. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB.

X:1

T:Y Crythor Llon

T:Merry Fiddler, The

M:6/8

L:1/8

Q:130

S:Band y Brodyr

R:Jig

A:Wales

Z:brian_martin12345@yahoo.com

K:D

A|d2d f2f|aba f2f|g2f e2d|cec A2A|

d2d f2f|aba f2f|g2e c2A|d3-d2:||

|:f|a3-a2g|f3-f2f|gag fgf|e3-e2f|

a3-a2g|f3-f2f|gfe dec|d3-d2:||

 

Y DERWYDD.  See “(Y) Derwydd.”

 

Y DYNWR (The Thresher). AKA and see “Fisher’s Hornpipe,” “The Thresher [3].” Welsh, Hornpipe. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. This setting of the well-known “Fisher’s Hornpipe” is for the Welsh harp, from the Tro Llaw collection (National Library of Wales).

X:1

T: Y Dynwr
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe

Z:Trevor MacSheoinin
K: Gmaj
|:d2|gdBG cedc|BGBd cedc|Bbgb Acac|Bbgb Aafa|
gdBG cedc|BGBd cedc|Bdce dfac'|bagf g2:|
|:d2|afdf afc'a|bgdg bgd'b|afdf afc'b|agfe e2d2|
ecGc ecge|dBGB dBge|dafd dcBA|G2B2 G2 :|

 

Y GOF DU. AKA and see “The Harmonious Blacksmith.”

 

YA GOTTA QUIT KICKIN’ MY DOG AROUN’.  See “Gotta Quit Kickin’ My Dog Around.”

 

Y.Z. SPECIAL. AKA and see "Wyzee Hamilton Special," "Hamilton's Special Breakdown," "Concord Rag," "G Rag." Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA, Alabama. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Recorded for Paramount in 1925 by Alabama fiddler Y.Z. Hamilton (1888‑1936). Source for notated version: Jere Canote [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 174.

 

YACHT CLUB. American, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning AABB. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 47. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg. 75.

X:1

T:Yacht Club

M:2/4

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

D|(D/G/).G/.B/ (A/G/).E/.G/|(D/G/).G/.B/ e2|d(g/f/) e/d/c/B/|c/B/c/e/ d/B/A/G/|(D/G/).G/.B/ (A/G/).E/.G/|

(D/G/).G/.B/ e2|d(g/f/) e/d/c/B/|d/c/A/B/ G::G|gg/g/ (g/b/).a/.g/|(f/d/).d/.d/ (d>B)|

c/B/c/d/ e(c/e/)|(a/g/).f/.e/ d2|.G/(g/f/g/) .e/(g/f/g/)|.d/(g/f/g/) .b/(g/f/g/)|d/g/f/e/ d/c/B/A/|GGG:|

           

YAIRDS O’ FINNIGIRTH. AKA and see “Andrew Carey [1],” “Scotland [1].” Scottish, Air. Scotland, Sheltand Isles.

 

YALLOW WALLS. English, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The melody appears in the 1840 music manuscript collection of John Rook, of the Wigton, Cumbria, area.

X:1

T:Yallow Walls

M:C

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:John Rook manuscript

K:G

D2|GFGA Bcde|g2 dB GBAG|FDAD BDAD|GBdB AGFA|GFGA Bcde|

g2 dB GBAG|FAdf ged^c|d2d2d2:: e/f/|gGBd cBAG|dDFA GFED|GDBG dBgf|

edcB (3ABc (3def|gGBd cBAG|dDFA GFED|GBdg ecAF|G2G2G2:|

                       

YANDER COMES MY TRUE LOVE. Old‑Time, Song/piece. USA. A Major. Standard tuning. One part. Described by Thede as a "Yankee love song."

***

Yander comes my true love

O how do you know her

I know her by her walk and I know her by her talk

And her shoe strings flappin' on the floor.   (Thede)

***

Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 27.

 

YANKEE DOODLE. AKA and see “All the Way to Galway,” “The Kerry Cow.

 


YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. English (originally), American;  Country Dance Tune (2/4 time) or March. D Major (Bayard, Keller, Kennedy, Kidson, Raven, Sweet): G Major (Linscott): C Major (Kerr). Standard tuning. AB (Bayard, Johnson, Linscott): AAB (Kerr): AABB (Johnson, Kidson, Raven, Sweet): AABBA'A'B'B' (Kennedy). There is some mystery and controversy about the exact origins of one of the most famous tunes in American tradition, "Yankee Doodle." Elson (The National Music of America, 1899) finds that the first period of the melody was once quite familiar to Dutch musicians and “has been used in Holland from time immemorial as a children’s song,” however, the second part was not known. The Irish musicologist Flood (1906) maintains "Yankee Doodle" derives from a Jacobite era (early 18th century) song called "All the Way to Galway [1]." Claims have also been made for Spanish and even Hungarian musical origins. The earliest appearance of the complete melody was claimed by Dr. Rimbault (1876) to have been a printing in Walsh's Collection of Dances for the year 1750  where it he said it appears as "Fisher's Jig" (a reference to the ‘notorious lady’, Kitty Fisher, who died in 1771). Rimbault later wrote that it was a country dance found under the title “Kitty Fisher's Jig,” written in triple time, but that it was afterwards altered to common time, although the title remained the same (he printed what he said was the Walsh tune in the magazine Leisure Hour, see abc below). The problem is that no one has been able to locate the melody in either Walsh’s publication or in any of Thompson’s Country Dance Books of the same era. “Kitty Fisher” does exist in Thompson and Son’s Twenty-four Country Dances for 1760 but it is a different, duple-time tune, unlike anything resembling what we know as “Yankee Doodle.” A nursery rhyme exists that goes:

***

Lucy Locket lost her pocket,

Kitty Fisher found it,

Not a bit of money in it,

Only binding round it.

***

This contains Fischer’s name (misspelled, while Lucy Locket was presumably a name taken from a character in The Beggars Opera of 1727) and scans to the “Yankee Doodle” tune, but any direct relationship remains speculative. 

***

If one discounts Rimbault’s claims, the earliest corroborated appearances of the “Yankee Doodle” tune are in James Aird’s Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs Selections Vol. 1 (1782, sometimes dated 1775-76), and George Colman’s opera Two to One (1784) as a song entitled “Adzooks, Old Crusty, Why so Rusty?”  The tune's mocking connotations with at least a portion of the American colonial population were apparently well-established somewhat before that time.

***

Regarding the lyrics, there is little hard evidence for the derivation of the word Yankee, although it was in use as a term to identify New Englanders since the early 18th century. Doodle, on the other hand, has been traced to the Lancashire dialect, and means a trifler or shiftless individual. Of the song itself, Winstock (1970) writes "It is generally accepted that the words were written by (the Englishman) Dr. Richard Shuckburgh around 1755 in derision of the odd‑looking colonials who had come to help the British regulars fight the French, and the redcoats continued to use it in contempt...”. Elson (The National Music of America, 1899) traces this claim to an early 19th century publication called Farmer & Moore’s Monthly Literary Journal, although there are other, separate attributions to Shuckburgh (whose name is spelled various ways).  The good and witty doctor did not live to see his satire used in the war of rebellion for he died in August, 1773, the New York Gazetter reporting: “Died, at Schenectady, last Monday, Dr. Richard Shuckburgh, a gentleman of a very genteel family, and of infinite jest and humour.”  In October, 1768, the New York Journal gave the earliest notice of its performance:
***

The British fleet was bro’t to anchor near Castle William, in Boston Harbor,

and the opinion of the visitors to the ships was that the ‘Yankey Doodle

Song’ was the capital piece in the band of their musicians.

***

Boorish British officers called for dancing after a concert in Boston on January 25, 1769, that had been performed by a group led by musician Stephen Deblois. "Yankee Doodle" was one of the tunes (along with "Wild Irishman") the Redcoats derisively demanded, according to a newspaper account of the time, and when Deblois was not forthcoming, the British rioted. Deblois cancelled further concerts, and did not reinstate them until the English general in command pledged his officers' good behavior. By 1775 the piece was played by British fifers and drummers as a way to taunt the colonial populace as, for example, they did that year when one "John Andrews complained of the field music of the (British) 4th Regiment playing that melody near a church during religious services to annoy the congregation" (Camus, 1976).  Culprits were drummed out to the sound of the tune from British camps in the city of Boston.

***

“Yankee Doodle’s” rapid transformation from a vehicle of derision to a famed national tune occurred at the very onset of the Revolutionary War with the attack on Lexington and Concord by forces belonging to Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn.  “In 1775 the British troops who attacked Concord and Lexington needed rescuing by Lord Percy's troops. As Percy marched through Roxbury with his band jeeringly playing "Yankee Doodle," he good‑naturedly asked a young American what there was to laugh about. ‘To think that soon you will dance to 'Chevy Chase'’, answered the boy, referring to the very old ballad about Otterbourne where Percy's great ancestor was defeated and captured" (Winstock, 1970; pg. 70). The British were indeed chased back to Boston with a one-sided loss of life, harassed much of the way by the ‘minutemen.’ The Americans immediately appropriated the tune, which for a long time after was called “The Lexington March.” The melody appears in the manuscript collection of young Connecticut fifer Giles Gibbs (1760-1780), who perished in the war, under the curious title “Thehos Gendar.” “Yankee Doodle” was played by both sides in the Battle of Bunker Hill, and thereafter continued to be performed by musicians in the American army as well as the British. It appears in the manuscript collection, for example, of Captain George Bush (1753?-1797), an officer in the Continental Army and a fiddler by avocation. Under the terms of the surrender agreement at Yorktown in 1782 the British were specifically prohibited from playing the tune. So powerful was the metaphor, that when they turned insultingly away from the Colonials to present themselves to the French forces as they piled their arms on the ground, Lafayette instructed the French bands to play it in solidarity with the Americans.

***

Morrison (1976) states the air had a number of dance figures associated with it in Colonial times, and gives two examples. Johnson (1988) prints two contra dances to the tune. 

***

“Yankee Doodle” returned to Europe as an American anthem some years later.  Elson (1899) relates that, in 1814, near the conclusion of the War of 1812, the American statesmen Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams met the British ambassador at Ghent to arrange the final points and to sign the treaty of peace between Great Britain and America. The burghers were proud their city was the site for so momentous an occasion and proposed a serenade to the two embassies.  They knew the English tunes well enough, but were perplexed as to the American national anthem.  The bandmaster was sent to Clay to inquire, and was told that, of course, America’s chief melody was “Yankee Doodle.”  The musician begged Clay to hum it to him, that he might write it down.  Clay attempted to do this but failed, as did the secretary of the legation.  Attention then turned to Clay’s African-American body-servant, called Bob, who was requested to whistle the tune.  Bob complied, the bandmaster copied and harmonized, and the tune was heard in the serenade as planned.

***

Stories involving tin-ears, “Yankee Doodle” and American leaders do not end with Clay. A famous story about General Ulysses Grant and his ‘tin-ear’ has it that in order to perform his martial duty the famous Union Army warrior required a horse that could distinguish and respond to bugle commands, for Grant himself acknowledged that he himself knew but two tunes—one was “Yankee Doodle”... and other wasn’t. Another Civil War anecdote is contained in historian Stephen Sears volume To the Gates of Richmond, about the Lower Peninsula campaign of 1862. An incident occurred during the Battle of Williamsburg:

***

[Federal] Corps commander [Samuel] Heintzelman joined the desperate struggle to close the broken ranks. He hit on the novel idea of rallying them with music. Finding several regimental bands standing by bewildered as the battle closed in, Heintzelman ordered them to take up their instruments. "Play! Play! It's all you're good for," he shouted. "Play, damn it! Play some marching tune! Play 'Yankee Doodle,' or any doodle you can think of, only play something!" Before long, over the roar of the guns, came the incongruous sound of "Yankee Doodle" and then "Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue." One of [General Joseph] Hooker's men thought the music was worth a thousand men. "It saved the battle," he wrote.

***

It is surprising to note that "Yankee Doodle" was used, along with "Edie Sammon's Tune," as part of the music for the ritual horn dance at Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, England in late Victorian times (see "Edie Sammon's Tune"); the playing of "Yankee Doodle" thus emphasized the whimsical nature of the dance (which features, along with the horn dancers, the characters of the hobby horse, Robin Hood, the Maid and the Fool), which is performed with such dusky solemnity at modern ‘Revels’ stage productions in America. The title appears in a list of tunes in his repertoire brought by Philip Goodman, the last professional and traditional piper in Farney, Louth, to the Feis Ceoil in Belfast in 1898 (Breathnach, 1997). While mostly traditional Irish in his repertoire, Goodman regularly played several novelty or ‘popular’ tunes (he also played “Dixie,” calling it “Dicksie’s Land,” and thus covered all bases for Irish veterans of both sides of the Civil War). Recorded by Alabama fiddler Dr. D. Dix Hollis (1961‑1927) for the Silvertone (Sears) lable, 1924. Sources for notated versions: Mt. Pleasant Tablatures (a fife MS from Pa., 1950's) [Bayard]; the MS collection of Captain George Bush [Keller]; the fife MS collection of young Revolutionary War soldier Giles Gibbs (1760-1780) [Keller]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 19, pgs. 24‑25. Huntington (William Litten’s), 1977; pg. 27. JIFSS No. 15, pg. 18. S. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician No. 8), 1988; pg. 9. Keller (Giles Gibbs Jr., His Book for the Fife...1777, 1974; pg. 31 (under the curious title “Thehos Gendar”). Keller (Fiddle Tunes from the American Revolution), 1992; pg. 17. Kennedy (Fiddler’s Tune Book), vol. 1, 1951; No. 53, pg. 26. Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 2; No. 409, pg. 46. Kidson (Old English Country Dances), 1890; pg. 13. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 118. Morrison, 1976; pg. 43. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland), No. 999. O'Neill (Waifs and Stays of Gaelic Melody), No. 80. Stanford-Petrie (Complete Collection), No. 849 (“All the Ways to Galway”). Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 148. Reavy, No. 41. Sweet (Fifer’s Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 12 (two versions, one labled "18th Century Version").

X:1

T:Yankee Doodle

L:1/8

M:2/4

S:Aird, Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, 1782

Z:Paul Kinder

K:D

ddef|ddec|ddef|d2c2|ddef|ddec|AABc|d2d2:|

|:d2 BG|BA B2|=c2 AG|FG A2|d2 BG|BG =c2|AB^cA|d2d2:|

|:dfeg|fdec|dfeg|f2 ed|dgeg|fdec|AABc|d2d2:|

|:d2BG|Bd=cB|ABAG|FGAB|=cdcA|Bd=cA|AB^cA|d2 d>g:|

|:fdec|dBAg|fdef|B2 Ag|fdec|dBAF|A2 Bc|d2 dg:|

|:FAAd|BAAG|FAAd|B2 AG|FAAd|cAAF|A2 Bc|d2d2:|

|:af eg|fdec|faeg|f2 ed|faeg|fdec|AABc|d2d2:|

|:d/c/d/e/ dA|BAAF|d/c/d/e/ dA|B2A2|d/c/d/e/ dA|BAAF|A2 Bc|d2d2:|

|:a2 af|gfed|a2 ag|f2e2|a2 af|gfef|A2 Bc|d2d2:|

|:B/A/B/c/ Bd|A/G/A/B/ Ad|B/A/B/c/ Bd|BAGF|B/A/B/c/ Bd|

A/G/A/B/ Ad|A2 Bc|d2d2:|

X:2

T:Kitty Fisher’s Jig

L:1/8

M:6/8

S:Rimbault, Leisure Hour, pg. 90, 1876

N:Supposedly from Walsh’s Collection of Dances for the Year 1750

K:C

c2c d2e|c2c B2G|c2c d2e|c3 B2G|c2c d2e|f2e d2c|B2G A2B|c3 c3||

A2A A2G|A2B c3|G2A G2F|E3 G3|c2c d2e|f2e d2c|B2g A2B|c3c3||

X:3

T:Return of Ulysses, to Ithaca

L:1/8

M:2/4

S:Musical Tour of C. Dibdin, pg. 342, 1788

K:C

G|c cde|cc BG|c cde|cc BA|c cde|fedc|BGAB|c z c z|

fefg|afdc|BGAB|czcz:|

|:G|ccde|ccBG|ccde|c2 BG|cc de|fe dc|BG AB|c2c2|AA GF|

GA _BB|BA GF|c2 GG|AAGF|GA _B =B/A/|BG AB|c2c2|

feff|afdc|BGAB|c2C2:|

X:4

T:Adzooks, old crusty, why so rusty

L:1/8

M:C

S:ArnoldTwo to One (1784)

K:E

B|eefg eedB|eef(g e2) dz/B/|e(efg) agfe|dBcd e2E||

|:B|ee fg ee dB|ee fg e2 dB|ee fg ag fe|BG cd e2 ez/f2e/2|

dBcd e2e2::c>d cA cd e2|B>c BA G2B2|c>d cA cd e2|

c>e df e2e2|c>edf e2E:|

X:5

T:Yankee Doodle

M:2/4

L:1/8

S:William Sydney Mount manuscripts.

N:The tune appears on a page with a handwritten playing guide for the fife or tin

N:whistle, addressed to John B. Mount and dated March 26th, 1861. At the bottom of the

N:page he says: “For musical instructions, ask your Father, or , look at his instruction

N:book, about time & the characters of the notes & the proportion they bear to each

N:other. ‘Howe’s Violin Instructor’ will teach you. If you will apply yourself. I hope you

N:will. WSM.” Elias Howe, of Boston, published several instructors and tutors in the

N:mid-19th century, as well as a massive collection of tunes called Musician’s Omnibus.

N:The ‘A’ part is the part that is now familiar to modern ears, however, the ‘B’ part

N:appears to be in a transitional phase from 18th century versions, such as that printed by

N:Aird (1782) and the one familiar to us today. Modern versions have dropped the ‘c’

N:natural note, a modal feature, and remain in the major key.

Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz

K:D

d2 ef | dfec | d2 ef | d2 cA | d2 ef | gfed | cABc | d2d2 :|

|: d2 BG | Bd =c2 | ABAG | FG A2 | d2 BG Bd =c2 | Adce | d2d2 :|

 

YANKEE HORNPIPE. American, Hornpipe. B Flat Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Source for notated version: Gilbert Ross [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 234.

 

YANKEE RUN FAST. Old‑Time. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954.

 

YANKEE SQUIRREL HUNTER. AKA – “Squirrel Hunter.” Old-Time, Breakdown. A Mixolydian. Standard tuning. AB. See note for “Dan Friend’s Piece.” Source for notated version: Tony Mates [Silberberg]. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; pg. 172.

 

YANKEE TROT, THE. American, Dance Tune (2/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning. AA'BB. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 105.

X:1

T:Yankee Trot, The

M:2/4

L:1/8

B:Ford – Traditional Music in America (1940)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

BA|GEGA|BABd|g2 gf|e2d2|edBd|gdBG|1

A2AB|A2:|2 A2G2|G2gf||:eeef|edBd|dBdB|

e2 gf|eeef|g2B2||A2 BA|GEGA|BABd|

g2gf|e2d2|edBd|gdBG|A2G2|G2:|

 

YARMOUTH BREAKDOWN.  English, Hornpipe. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Yarmouth is a town in Norfolk, southern England. Callaghan (2007) calls the tune a “classic East Anglian step-dance hornpipe.” Reg Hall (liner notes, Topic TSCD659) says the tune is “a lovely example of the un-dotted English hornpipe, very much in vogue in East Anglia throughout most of the 20th century, and probably dating from the 19th.” Source for notated version: Percy Brown [Callaghan]. Callaghan (Hardcore English), 2007; pg. 27. Topic Record TSCD659, Percy Brown – “Voice of the People, vol.9: Rig-A-Jig-Jig: Dance Music of the South of England” (1998. various artists. Brown was aged 70 at the time of the original recording in 1972). Veteran VTVS07/08, Billy Cooper (Norfolk). Veteran VTVS07/08, Walter Geary (Norfolk). Veteran VTVS05/06, Fred Pearce (Suffolk). Wildgoose Records WGS340CD, Mary Humphrey & Anahata – “Fenlandia.”

 

YARMOUTH HORNPIPE. AKA and see “Manchester Hornpipe [1],” “Morning Fair,” “Pigeon on the Gate [7],” “Texarkana Hornpipe,” “Tomorrow Morning.”  English, Hornpipe. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The Yarmouth Hornpipe seems to have originally been the name of a step-dance in the south or England, for which several (and perhaps many) tunes were played as the vehicle for the dancers. East Anglia dulcimer player Billy Bennington (“The Barford Angel”) had a “Yarmouth Hornpipe,” for example, which elsewhere was the well-known “Flowers of Edinburgh.” The tune appears in the 1850-1880 music manuscripts of George H. Watson (Swanton Abbott, Norfolk).

 

YARMOUTH HORNPIPE [2]. English, Hornpipe. G Major. Standard tuning. AABBCCD. Source for notated version: East Anglia hammered dulcimer player Billy Cooper. Veteran VT150CD, Billy Cooper with Walter & Daisy Bulwer (recorded 1960).

X:1

T:Yarmouth Hornpipe [2]

M:4/4

L:1/8

R:Hornpipe

S:dulcimer player Billy Cooper

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

(3def|gdBA Bdeg|fdAF G2 AB|cded cBAG|FdEd D2 (3def|gdBA Bdeg|

fdAF G2 AB|cedc BAGF|A2G2G2::Gd|BdGd BdGe|ceAe ceAd|

BdGd BdGd|cBcd ef (3gfe|dgfe dcBA|G2g2G2:|

|:G2 Bd gdBG|G2 ce gecG|G2 Bd gdBG|Ad^cd Adcd:|

Bdgd Bdgd|cege cege|Bdgd Bdgd|Adfd Adfd|Bdgd Bdgd|

cege cege|Bdgd Adfd|gdBd G2B2|B,dgd B,dgd|Cege Cege|

B,dgd B,dgd|A,dfd A,dfd|B,dgd B,dgd|Cege Cege|B,dgd A,dfd|gdBd G,4||

 

YARMOUTH LASSES. AKA and see "Wearmouth Lasses." English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning. AABB. James Merryweather and Matt Seattle (1994) point out that the name 'Yarmouth' is a misreading of the old spelling 'W(e)armouth'. The “Yarmouth Hornpipe” appears in several 19th century English musicians’ music manuscripts under alternate spellings. Merryweather & Seattle (The Fiddler of Helperby), 1994; No. 78, pg. 47 (appears as an untitled jig). Northumbrian Pipers' Tune Book, 1970. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 117.

X:1

T:Yarmouth Lasses

M:6/8

L:1/8

K:G

d|gfg d^cd|=cBc dBG|DGB B2A|Ace e2d|gfg d^cd|

=cBc dBG|DGB B2d|dcA G2::D|DGB B2A|Ace e2d|

DGB B2A|Ace e2d|gfg d^cd|=cBc dBG|DGB ced|cBA G2:|

 

YARMOUTH REEL, THE. AKA and see "Galopede." English, Reel. G Major. Standard tuning. AAB (Raven): AABC (Kennedy, Sweet). Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), vol. 1, 1951; No. 63, pg. 31 (appears as "Galopede"). Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 149. Sweet (Fifer’s Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 60.

X:1

T:Yarmouth Reel

T:Galopede

M:4/4

L:1/8

R:Reel

K:G

dc|B2 Bc A2 AB|G2G2G2 AB|cBcd edcB|A2A2A2 dc|B2 Bc A2 AB|

G2G2G2AB|cBAG FGAF|G2G2G2:||dc|B2 gf e2 ed|dcBc A2 dc|

B2 gf edcB|A2A2A2dc|B2 gf e2 ed|dcBc A2dc|BdcB AcBA|G2G2G2||

Bc|d2d2d2g2|d2d2d2g2|d2d2 edcB|A2A2A2 Bc|d2d2d2g2|d2d2d2g2|edcB dcBA|G2G2G2||

 

YARROW VALE. Scottish, Slow Air (4/4 time). B Flat Major. Standard tuning. AA. The music to this song was composed by Watlen, published in his "Scots Songs", while the lyrics were written by Macdonald.  The song was once sung by Mrbani in Edinburgh "with unbounded applause" (Neil, 1991). The beautiful and historic vale of "soft undulating hills and quiet stream" has been celebrated by Sir Walter Scott and William Wordsworth, and was the ground for many a conflict.

***

In Yarrow vale by Yarrow stream,

Where love and youth and beauty stray,

Oft thro' the twilights waving gleam,

Sweet Mary trac'd the dewy way,

She loved the meads, the towering trees.

The fanning of the western gale,

Yet sighed for something still to please,

By Yarrow stream, by Yarrow vale,

By Yarrow stream, by Yarrow vale.

***

Neil (The Scots Fiddle), 1991; No. 47, pg. 63.

 


YE BANKS AND BRAES (O' BONNY DOON). AKA and see “Bonny Doon,” "Lost is my quiet," "The Caledonian Hunt's Delight." Scottish, Waltz. D Major. Standard tuning. AB. The antiquarian William Chappell claims the tune is English on the strength of its being included in a Collection of English Songs by Dale (who published about 1780‑1794) under the title "Lost is my quiet." However, the collector John Glen (1891) relates a delightful story of the tune's origins involving the great Scots poet, Robert Burns, who wrote to George Thomson in 1794:

***

Do you known the history of the air? It is curious enough. A

good many years ago, Mr. James Miller, writer in your good

own (Edinburgh), a gentleman whom, possibly, you know, was

in company with our good friend Clarke; and taling of Scottish

music, Miller expressed an ardent ambition to be able to

compose a Scots air. Mr. Clarke, partly by way of a joke, told

him to keep to the black keys of the harpsichord, and preserve

some kind of rhythm, and he would infallibly compose a Scots

air. Certain it is, that, in a few days, Mr. Miller produced the

rudiments of an air which Mr. Clarke, with some touches and

corrections, fashioned into the tune in question. Ritson, you

know,  has the same story of the black keys; but this account

which I have just given you, Mr. Clarke informed me of several

years ago.

****

Miller's tune was first published under the title "The Caledonian Hunt's Delight" in Gow's 2nd Collection (1788), but Glen concludes that it is more likely that "Lost is my quiet" is a poor adaptation and nothing else. He also notes there is a tune having a supposed resemblance in Playford's Appollo's Banquet (1690) entitled "A Scotch Tune" (No. 68), but in the end he believes that "neither Chappell's arguments nor facts are strong enough to deprive Mr. Miller of his claim." Francis O’Neill (Irish Folk Music, pg. 56), taking up the Irish banner, reports that George Farquhar Graham, editor of Wood’s Songs of Scotland, states there is an Irish claim to the melody which predates the Burns verses. A jig setting can be found in Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 4, pg. 28, as “Bonnie Doon.”

***

The song begins:
***

Ye banks and braes O’ Bonnie Doon,

How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?

How can ye chaunt, ye little birds,

And I’m sae wearyful O’ care?

Ye’ll break my heart ye warbling bird,

That warbles on the flow’ry thorn.

Ye mind me O’ departed joys, Departed never to return.

***

In the United States an early printing appears in the Ira Clark Jr. Manuscript (pg. 55), from the year 1790. Mr. Clark resided in Simsbury, Connecticut. A variant can be found in the American Veteran Fifer.

***

Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 1; No. 3, pg. 25.

X:1

T:Ye Banks and Braes

M:3/4

L:1/4

S:Kevin Briggs

K:D

A|"D"d2d|"A7/e"e3/2d/2e|"D/f+"faf|"A7/e"e3/2d/2e|

"D"f3/2e/2d|"G"dBA|"Em"ABd|\

"A7"e2A|"D"d2d|"A7/e"e3/2d/2e|"D/f+"faf|"A7/e"e3/2d/2e|

"D"f3/2e/2d|"G"dBA|"A7"ABd|\

"D"d2f||

"D"a2"G"b|"D"afd|"D"a2"G"b|"D"afd|"D"afd|"D"afd|"Em"ba/2g/2f|"A7"

P:pause

e2A|"D"d2d|"A7/e"e3/2d/2e|"D/f+"faf|"A7/e"e3/2d/2e|

"D"f3/2e/2d|"G"dBA|"A7"ABd|\

"D"d2||

 

YE CHESHIRE WAY.  AKA and see “Jack o’ the Green [2].”

 

YE GODS OF LOVE. Scottish. The tune under this title appears in Aberdeen musician John Forbes' Cantus, Songs and Fancie, 1662. Williamson says it is related to an air in Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book of 1591 entitled "The Irish Ho Hoane" (a mangled attempt at the Gaelic word "ochone" or lament). Flying Fish, Robin Williamson ‑ "Legacy of the Scottish Harpers, vol. 2."

 

YE NATIVES OF THIS NATION. Irish, Air (4/4 time, "bold"). F Major. Standard tuning. AB. "To this air was a violent political and Jacobite song, composed by a man named Barnaby O'Hanlon, a turner, a native of Donegal, who settled down and worked in our neighbourhood for some time. I learned both air and words in my childhood by merely hearing the people about me singing the song" (Joyce). One verse goes:
***

Our ancestors formerly great valour they have shown,

Great exploits for Ireland’s rights since James’s war was known;

Likewise the valiant Sarsfield his losses did bemoan,

When he reproved St. Ruth for the losing of Athlone.
***

Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 33, pg. 19.

X:1

T:Ye natives of this nation

M:C

L:1/8

R:Air

S:Joyce – Old Irish Folk Music and Song (1909), No. 33

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:F

c/A/|F2 FF F>GAB|ccf>d c3A|B>BBB AcBA|A>GGG {A}c2 AG|F2FF F>GAB|

ccfd c3A|BcdB AcAF|BGFE F3||c|d>ccc {d}e2 f>d|dcc>c c3e|fedc AcBA|

G>FGA {A}c>BAG|F2FF F>GAB|ccfd c3A|BcdB AcAF|BGFE F3||

                       


YE SOCIAL POWERS. AKA and see "Once a Night." English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). D Major. Standard tuning. AABCC. Published before 1730. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 30.

                       

YE SONS OF OLD IRELAND. Irish, Air (6/8 time). A Mixolydian. Standard tuning. One part. "This air has been already published, but in a very inferior setting. I give my version from memory, as I learned it in early life. Moore's Noch bonin shim doe (Song‑‑'They may rail at this life') is not another version, but a different air altogether. The peasant song, of which I give three verses from memory, had much rude vigour. It was a satire on those Irish farmers and small gentry who became rich and cut a great figure during the Napoleonic wars; but who came to their level after 'Boney was down,' in 1815" (Joyce). Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Songs), 1909; No. 407, pg. 218.

                       

YE TRUGH. See “Old Truagh.”

                       

YE WILD MORRIS. See “Wild Morris.”

                       

YEAL YEAL. See "Yeil Yeal."

                       

YEAR END TWO-STEP. New England, Two-Step (4/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning. AB. Composed by New England dance caller Ralph Page. Miller (Fiddler’s Throne), 2004; No. 362, pg. 211. Northern Junket, vol. 7, No. 11, 1963. Page (Ralph Page Book of Contras), 1969; pg. 7. F&W Records 6, Fireside String Band‑‑"Square Dance Tunes for a Yankee Caller."

 

YEAR OF FIFTY-SEVEN, THE. AKA and see "L'Annee de Cinquante-sept."

 

YEAR OF (THE) JUBILO. AKA and see "Massa's Gone Away," “Old Master’s Runaway.” AKA – “Doodletown Fifer [2],” “Jublio,” “Jubiller,” “Kingdom Coming.” Old-Time, Breakdown; New England, Polka. USA. G Major (Brody): D Major (Messer, Miller & Perron, Phillips). Standard. AABB. An American blackface minstrel song whose words and tune were written by New England abolitionist Henry Clay Work in 1872, and tell of the effect of Lincoln's emancipation proclamation on a Southern plantation. The ancient Hebrews declared a "Jubilee Year" every half‑century in which all the slaves were freed. Work also composed such songs as the Civil War "Marching Through Georgia," "My Grandfather's Clock," and the music for "The Wreck of the Old 97." Source for notated version: Hollow Rock String Band (N.C.) [Brody]. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 294. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pgs. 69 & 339. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 7, pg. 8. Miller & Perron (101 Polkas), 1978; No. 58. Ostling, 1939; No. 13. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 357. Flying Fish FF009, Red Clay Ramblers ‑ "Stolen Love." Folk Legacy FSI-74, Howard Bursen - "Cider in the Kitchen" (1980). Fretless 122, Ken Bonner‑ "Old Time Fiddling 1976" (appears as "Jubiller"). Rounder 0024, "Hollow Rock String Band."


YEARLINGS IN THE CANEBREAK. Old-Time, Breakdown. A Dorian ('A' part) & A Mixolydian ('B' part). Standard tuning. AABB'. See related tune "Cattle in the Cane" [1]. The tune is known as a Southwest melody. It was recorded in the 78 RPM era by Captain M.J. Bonner (“The Texas Fiddler”), a Confederate army veteran who recorded at the age of 78 in 1925. Bonner was the most accomplished old-time musician to play on the first radio station ‘barn dance’ broadcast on WBAP out of Fort Worth, Texas, on Jan. 24th, 1923. Source for notated version: Kerry Blech (Seattle, Washington) [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; pg. 261. County CO-CD-3524, Captain M.J. Bonner – “Old Time Texas String Bands, Vol. 2.” Yodel-Ay-Hee 020, Rafe Stefanini & Bob Herring - "Old Paint."

YEIL YEIL. AKA – “Yeal Yeil,” “Yell Yell” Scottish, Strathspey. E Dorian. Standard tuning. AABCDEEFF (Gow). The tune first appeared in print in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection, according to John Glen (1891). Bremner (Scots Reels), 1757; pg. 68. Carlin (Gow Collection), 1986; No. 232. Gow (The First Collection of Niel Gow’s Reels), 1784 (revised 1801); pgs. 24-25 (appears as “Yell Yell”). McGlashan (Collection of Strathspey Reels), c. 1781; pg. 11. Maggie’s Music MM227 CD, Hesperus – “Colonial America” (2003). Maggie’s Music MM306, Bonnie Rideout – “A Scottish Fiddle Collection” (2005).

X:1

T:Yell Yell

T:Yeil Yeil

T:Yeal Yeil

L:1/8

M:C|

S:McGlashan – Strathspey Reels

K:E Dorian

F|E B2 A/G/ FD B/A/G/F/|E B2 A/F/ BEB>A|Bde>f dD B/A/G/F/|E B2 A/F/ BEB:|

f|gebe a/g/f/e/ df|gebe a/g/f/e/ be|gebe a/g/f/e/ df|gebe a/g/f/e/ f/e/d/^c/|

d/c/d/e/ f/e/d/c/ dD B/A/G/F/||E B2 A/F/ BE B:|

|:e|dEEe dDDf|dEEe dEBA|B/^c/d e/f/g dD A/B/G/F/|E B2 A/F/ BE B:|

|:f|bebf adaf|bebf bebf|bebf adaf|g>bg>b f>be>f|d>eB>d FD B/A/G/F/|E(BB)A/F/ BEB:|

|:e|BE d/^c/B/A/ dD B/A/G/F/|BE d/^c/B/A/ BE B>A|d/e/f/d/ e/e/f/e/ dD B/A/G/F/|

E B2 A/F/ BEB:|

|:f|e/g/b/g/ e/g/b/g/ d/f/a/f/ d/f/a/f/|e/g/b/g/ e/g/b/g/ e/g/b/g/ e/g/b/g/|

a/g/f/e/ f/e/d/^c/ dD B/A/G/F/|EBBA/F/ BEBf|e/g/b/g/ e/g/b/g/ d/f/a/f/ d/f/a/f/|

e/g/b/g/ e/g/b/g/ e/g/b/g/ e/g/b/g/|f/g/a/f/ e/f/g/e/ dD B/A/G/F/|E B2 A/E/ BEB||

X:2

T:Yeal Yeal

M:C

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Bremner – Scots Reels (1757)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:E Dorian

F | EB (d/c/B/A/) dDAF | E(BB)A BEBA | (B/c/d) (d/e/f) dDAF |

E(BB)A BEE :: f | gebe (a/g/f/e/) df | gebe gebe | gebe (a/g/f/e) df |

gebe gebe | (d/e/f/g/) (a/g/f/e/) dDAF | E(BB)A BEE :| 

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