The Drummer reel

Key signature: b minor
Submitted on January 16th 2005 by slainte.
https://thesession.org/tunes/4111

this one’s in Am

This tune and notes can also be found here:

https://thesession.org/tunes/1394/

This version I have provided is from Dougie MacDonald’s CD “A Miner”. He adds many grace notes and cuts that are inconsistent and have not been included. Just a bare-bones version of this good ol’ tune.

The Scots tune The Drummer is clearly related to (and very likely the origin of) the tune of the nursery rhyme Aiken Drum:

Aiken Drum
There was a man lived in the moon,
Lived in the moon, lived in the moon
There was a man lived in the moon,
And his name was Aiken Drum.
Chorus
And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle
And he played upon a ladle, and his name was Aiken Drum.

And his hat was made of good cream cheese,
of good cream cheese, of good cream cheese,
And his hat was made of good cream cheese
And his name was Aiken Drum.
Chorus

And his coat was made of good roast beef,
of good roast beef, of good roast beef,
And his coat was made of good roast beef,
And his name was Aiken Drum.
Chorus

And his buttons made of penny loaves,
of penny loaves, of penny loaves,
And his buttons made of penny loaves,
And his name was Aiken Drum.
Chorus

And his breeches made of haggis bags
of haggis bags, of haggis bags
And his breeches made of haggis bags,
and his name was Aiken Drum.

While having a discussion about dance & dance music history and fiction at a dance in a local hall, folks were frolicking to this tune, dancing the dance by the same name. This is how I remember the tune, given in a very basic form. I have come across it before, and we used to play it a long time ago, my wife and I, in a very large English Country Dance Band, along with a load of other early dance tunes for dancers. I’ve given it in 2/4. I’ve some transcriptions dating back to the 1700s and will try to remember to dig them out and add one or two more here later, and maybe a description of the dance too…

“Aird’s Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, vol. 1”, 1782
Most early transcriptions give this tune as 4/4, “Aird’s” as shown, gives it as 2/4… I tend to end this take on it with one change, the c# in the 6th bar/measure of the B-part, holding that last A:

~ | c>B ce | d^c d=f | ed cB | A2- A :|

Some alternate ways from the previous “Aird” transcription…

“Thompson’s Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1”, 1757

“The Athole Collection”, James Stewart-Robertson“, 1884, page 42
S: “Gow Repository”

The B part I have for this tune is different than the one here, and now I’m wondering where I got it. I would have thought I got it here, but unless it was here in the past and has been removed since (I’ve had it for a few years), that’s obviously not the case. I’m having trouble finding much when I try looking up this tune on either Google or Youtube.

Does anyone recognize it? (I hope I got the abc correct.)

X:1
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Am
ABcd e2 e^f|gage dBGB|ABcd e2 ea|ge^fd e2 eE|ABcd e2 e^f|gage dBGB|ABcA E2 Ed|cABG A2 A2

Reminds me of “Jenny Nettles”
https://thesession.org/tunes/3880
(although it reminds me of a few tunes!)

Wavy Bow Collection records it as a fling.

Barry Shears has this in his “Gathering of the Clans Collection, Volume One”. No name for it, just “Traditional”.

Re: the different “B” part I reference above– it’s by Alan Lerwick, from his book “The Kilted Fiddler.”