I’ve been looking online for an english tune called Roxburgh castle. I haven’t been successful. Does anyone know any good websites for english tunes? This one in particular is going to be used for a morris dance. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated as I need to find the music as soon as possible. Thanks!
banana512 - I think of this tune as Scottish - how trad tunes get around - so I went to j c’s tunefinder. Sure enough, it was there, in many versions, with the first one returned listed as “English.” So maybe that’s the one, or a variant, of the one you’re looking for. Good luck - cj
It should be in the Kennedy collection of dance music from the British Isles (can’t remember proper title). An alternative name is the Broken Time Hornpipe.
A wonderful source of tunes including Roxburgh Castle is on the Nottingham Folk Music Database www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~ef//music/tunes/index.htm
Hi Anna,
There’s a version you can listen to at http://www.soundclick.com/pro/default.cfm?BandID=2395&content=lyrics&SongID=2269289
Jim
thanks for the help guys. I found it.
I’ve posted it: https://thesession.org/tunes/4628.
Yes, you should use english tunes for morris dancing.
I’ll start another discussion on this, but, apparently, morris dancing is one of the performances NOT banned under the new draconian licensing act due to come into force shortly in England, Wales, but NOT Scotland.
Hence, anyone, I suggest you wear a bell on each knee and claim you are morris dancers !
Yeah right - I’d rather gouge my own eyes out with a spoon 😀
Isn’t there a Roxburgh Castle near Dover?
Morris dancing is a noble pursuit, part of England’s heritage. But then the English do not have the same need for clinging to heritage as others. Must have something to do with winners and losers.
Morris dancing has to be about one of the only types of dance that’s English. Although, now that I think about it, the english probably knicked from someone else.
Correct Flutie - in point of fact, Morris = Moorish dancing.
Have a look at Sheffield Uni ceilidhsoc site, which is most useful (to music readers) as you can browse down the first 3 or 4 bars of tunes searched upon.
http://www.ceilidhsoc.org/music.html
Hey, Geoff - that ceilidhsoc site is brilliant! I just created “My Little Book of Tunes” and it works a treat -it prints out the first bit with the title list - very clever
>Morris dancing has to be about one of the only types of dance that’s English. Although, now that I think about it, the english probably knicked from someone else.
>Correct Flutie - in point of fact, Morris = Moorish dancing.
Not to turn this into an offshoot of the Morris Dance Discussion List, but “morris/moorish” is just one theory (albeit a quite feasible one) in a vast, never-ending argument about what is, and what isn’t, morris dancing. Suffice it to say, the term “morris dancing” itself has been associated with dance forms and traditions in many parts of Europe, not just England -- although over the years, it’s largely come to be thought of as an inherently English tradition.
You can find any number of opinions, analysis and outright facts through this site:
http://web.syr.edu/~rsholmes/morris/rich/ml_other.html
This is it and that is it
and this is morris dancing.
The piper fell and broke his neck
and said it was a chancer.