Seven comments
Chester Castle
There are several variants of this tune.
The version that I’ve posted is as is played at one of my local sessions (the version in the William Winter MS).
Some of the phrases in this remind me a bit of Roxburgh Castle https://thesession.org/tunes/4628.
Chester Castle
Interesting - they also play Roxburgh Castle at that same session - although not in the same set!
Similar to…
Check it out:
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/GRA_GRAPE.htm#GRANT’S_RANT_[2]
Seesm like this is a pretty old tune, published as far back ast the 1770s. Sounded English to me when I first played it through, and it seems that its source is indeed.
@ChrisJCorrigan Yes, an old tune. As I mentioned above, this version is from the William Winter MS.
(William Winter: b1774, d1861)
Yes. Sorry about that.
Chester Castle, X:2
This tune appeared first (in the key of F major) in McGlashan’s Collection of Scots Measures (c. 1780). Here is another version in D as it appears in Aird’s Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol 2, 1785, nr 19. According to tunearch.org, the tune comes from Scotland, although the castle is located in Cheshire, England.
The castle was built in 1070 by the 1st Earl of Chester.