The Seven Stars jig

Josh, it’s good to see you posting again! Nice tune, too. But you’re back to your old habits…so tell us something about the Seven Stars….

this is a tune we used to play quite a lot at the english session down at the cricketers pub in greenwich - one of a set of three.the other two were: ‘would you marry a young virgin’ and something else involving squirrels

Mmm…it’s good to be home again. I’ve been scouting colleges and going through that whole edumuhcation thing. Boy! What a trip! But anyway, about the tune.
I know it’s a pretty popular fife & drum tune, and I heard it once in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick last summer, and forgot all about it until recently. Other than that, I know nothing more about it.

This tune is found in Joshua Jacksons 1798 manuscript under the name of The Seven Stars, and can be found in an excellent book of tunes from the said manuscript, available from Yorkshire Dales Workshops.

This tune is well known throughout England and Northumbria. It is in the Hardy manuscripts and I think that it is one of the best tunes in the whole world. The Angels of the North use it for a very old dance called Duck for the Oyster and couple it with Lamb Skinnet (Northumbrian) and Oyster Girl (English - very widespread).

When the Angels played in Tallinn this summer we were surprised to hear it played almost as a Polka by Sofia Joons who got it from a Danish Souce. Of course, there has always been a liberal trade in many things (including genes, language and tunes) across the North sea and up into the Baltic, so we are not surprised to find the connection.
Noel Jackson
Angels of the North

I’VE GIVEN THIS TUNE SOME LYRICS, SORT OF AN ODE TO BIG DIPPER - DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER EXISTING LYRICS

HI AGAIN WHEN I SAID I WROTE LYRICS (ODE TO BIG DIPPER), I MEANT FOR THE JIG, "THE MOON & SEVEN STARS," NOT the star above the garter

The B part of "Seven Stars" runs very well into the A of the Irish "O’Keefe’s Slide" - good spot to crank up the tempo, too!

Try this tune as a set with Fiddler on the Ceiling.

Just finished learning this tune from herself. She reports that this tune was played by the American rebels while burning the HMS Gaspée in Warwick, Rhode Island, June 9th, 1772. The ship was collecting for unpopular trade regulations.

Well, she says that’s what they told the kids in drum and fife corps back then when they’d play the tune for the Gaspée Day celebrations in Warwick every year.

The Gaspée Affair:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspée_Affair

This tune is very popular at American contradances. It’s a great tune, both for playing and for dancing.

This is the version from the Winder collection (1820s)
The earliest known publication that I could find is -David Rutherford’s Compleat Collection of 200 Country Dances, 1756? It’s also in Airds airs vol 1 1781. Any astronomers out there know a constellation of 7 stars?

Given that it’s an English tune, the name is probably referring to seven stars that can be seen from the Northern Hemisphere. Once known as a constellation, The Big Dipper seems to fit the bill. Although there’s likely others it could be about too.

Nice subtle differences in your variant Andy!

maybe The Pleiades (aka Seven Sisters)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades

No, more likely The Plough, as it is known here, aka The Big Dipper. As any ex-Girl Guide knows, in the Northern Hemisphere, if you follow a line upwards from the last 2 stars on the right, it will point you to the North (Pole) star. (But whether that’s what the tune is about could be another story!)
Great tune: we usually play it preceded by The Oyster Girl.

maybe, but how often do you see the moon next to the big dipper/plough/saucepan? And would you feel inspired to write a tune about it? Orion is another constellation that has seven prominent stars and is tuneworthy (imho). Here’s an image of the moon and the pleiades http://www.messier-objects.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Pleiades-and-the-full-Moon.jpg

Does it have to be "next to"? Various theories, including Orion, Pleiades, the Plough and even the planets (ok, pedants rule, they are not stars.) I really don’t care, it’s just a good tune!