Key signature: Gmajor
Submitted on October 9th 2004 by Aidan Crossey.
This tune has been added to 10 tunebooks.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Bill Charlton's Fancy
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Gmaj
|:(3d/e/f/|g2G f2G|e2G d3|DGB dBG|DFA c3|
aAc g2A|f2A e3|d^cd e2=c|Bdg B2d|
gGB f2G|e2G d3|DGB dBG|ecA E3|
ecG EGc|gdB GBd|fed ^cdF|GBd g2:|
|:(3d/e/f/|gGB fGB|eGB dGB|eGB dGB|cAF DFA|
aAc gAc|fAc eAc|d^cd ^de=c|Bdg B2d|
gGB fGB|eGB dGB|eGB dGB|ecA E3|
ecG EGc|gdB GBd|fed ^cdF|GBd g2:|
d|bGB aBG|gGB fGB|eGB dGB|cAF DFA|
aAc gAc|fAc eAc|d^cd ^de=c|Bdg B2d|
bGB aBG|gGB fGB|eGB dGB|ecA E3|
ecG EGc|gdB GBd|fed ^cdF|GBd g2:|
Bill Charlton's Fancy
I first came across this Northumbrian jig courtesy of Kathryn Tickell on the superb "William Kennedy Piping Festival" CD. I've attempted to play this on numerous occasions, but some of the stretches are beyond me. I've decided to post it regardless, because I reckon it's a cracking tune and for those who are able for it, it would make a great addition to the repertoire!
# Posted on October 9th 2004 by Aidan Crossey
this'un plays rather nicely as a waltz as opposed to a jig...
# Posted on October 10th 2004 by bestcraic
Missing Part
This is usually played as a 4 parter. The second part here is variations on the A part. The third part here is variations on the missing B part which goes something along the lines of
d|:b2B a2B|g2B f2B|e2B d2B|cAF DFA|
a2c g2c|f2c e2c|d^cd ^de=c|Bdg B2d|
etc...
# Posted on October 13th 2004 by geoffwright
Bill Charlton's Fancy
This is a listening piece composed by Billy Pigg for the Northumbrian Smallpipes in response to watching drops of rain trickle down a windowpane. Bill Charlton heard it, liked it and Billy Pigg named it after him. This is not the full version as there is also a set of quadruplet variations which are quite difficult.The structure of tune, variation, triplet and quadruplet variations is one of the standard ways of altering a tune in a variation set. As such it doesn't fallintoone dance meter though there is a fundamental two beat pulse throughout the tune.
# Posted on October 19th 2004 by noelbats
This plays very much like something out of a tutor from the 1800s, like an exercise or study, but a kick to play just the same. One could easily keep the variations flowing ad infinitum, or ad nauseam... If you are going to exercise it might as well be for the funny bone too...
# Posted on December 2nd 2005 by ceolachan
We had this lad who used to bring such things to sessions, things he had obviously learned from piping books and had spent alot of effort learning. In his case it was ad nauseam. He'd start playing, and often it was something we recognized, and then after the first 32 bars of 'norm' he'd kick into the party piece variations ~ little by little we'd all drip out and leave himin his rapture... Probably kinder than just, we did let him get away with it a few times before losing patience and finding ways to reduce the number of show pieces in an evening to close to '0'... Once in awhile is OK, but most of us were there to share the music in ensemble playing, with the occassional flights of fancy...just occassional...
# Posted on December 2nd 2005 by ceolachan
Bill Charlton's Fancy
Billy Pigg was recorded playing this on a record of his playing called "The Border Minstrel" (or "Billy Pigg: The Border Minstrel" - I forget which). I don't know if it is still obtainable. His playing ended with the fast runs at the end mentioned above by noelbats.
I played this one right through, end runs and all, on the whistle one night in a folk club in Falkirk in early 1982: it was my high point as a whistler - it's been downhill ever since. Common sense tells me that
certain whizzy bits in the Northumbrian smallpipes repertoire are best left there in peace. Alternatively, I'm lazy and unadventurous.
# Posted on August 4th 2006 by nicholas
"Billy Pigg: The Border Minstrel" ~ still available on CD
Leader, and Amazon has it... Also available is the publication of transcriptions of his playing by the same name, a Northumbrian Pipers Society publication:
http://www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk/
http://www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk/books/pigg.htm
# Posted on August 4th 2006 by ceolachan
"Billy Pigg: The Border Minstrel"
Submitted on August 4th 2006 by ceolachan.
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/2132/
# Posted on August 4th 2006 by ceolachan
Billy Pigg Performance
There's a recording of Billy Pigg playing this at http://www.asaplive.com/FARNE/RadioFARNE.cfm?ccs=150&cs=768
# Posted on March 16th 2008 by LowProfile