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The Cambo march

There are 3 recordings of a tune by this name.

The Cambo has been added to 7 tunebooks.

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Two settings

X: 1
T: The Cambo
R: march
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
|: B>c |
d2 d>d d2 d2 | g4 B3 B/c/ | d2 d>d d2 ^cd | A2 cB A2 Bc |
d2 d>d d2 d2 | g4 B3 B/c/ | d3 A/B/ c3 E/F/ | G2 G>G G2 :|
|: d>d |
d2 D>D D2 d>d | d2 G>G G2 g2 | gbgd BdBG | d2 D>D Ddef |
g2 d2 BdBd | g2 e2 cece | d2 B2 c2 A>F | G2 g>g g2 :|
|: DG |
B4 G/A/G/F/ G>e | d4 B4 | A>^GA>B c>A F2 | G>FG>B D2 d>c |
B4 G>FG>e | d4 B4 | A>^GA>B c>A F2 | G>FG>B G2 :|
|: FG |
A3 B c>A F2 | G>FG>B d3 B | A^GAB dcEF | G>FG>B d2 c2 |
B4 (3BAB (3GBd | e4- e g/f/ (3age | (3dcd (3edB (3A^GA c>F | A4 G2 :|
X: 2
T: The Cambo
R: march
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Gmaj
d4 g2 d>d | e4 g2 d>d | a4 a>^ga>b | a6 dd/d/ |
d4 gG (3Bcd | e4 a3 a | g2 g2 f>gaf | g6 :|
d>d dd/d/ dBdg | d>B d/e/f/g/ d3 d | adbd adbg | a/b/a/g/ f>e d/e/d/c/ B>c |
dd/d/ dd/d/ dB (3deg | dBdg d2 (3Bcd | ad/d/ dc/d/ bd/d/ dc/d/ | g2 g/a/g/f/ g2 :|

Seven comments

“The Cambo March” ~ composed by Peter Kennedy

"Now, the other little march, they call it Cambo March. Now Cambo’s about 12 mile out of Morpath in Northumberland. This march was written, composed by Windham. He was a teacher, a music teacher, and me father used to play it when they had a band at Cambo at that time."

~ Ned Pearson (78 when recorded by Peter Kennedy) was a footman to dukes & ambassadors and gamekeeper to Sir Charles Trevelyan, Cambo, near Morpeth… (born 1876 & died 1964)

Ned Pearson only played four parts for this march and did not repeat the parts, so once through. I was expecting this to be a 6-parter but could not chase up two other parts for it, however, in Andrew Kuntz’s "The Fiddler’s Companion" it does list it as having 6 parts… Here is an extract from that resource:

The Cambo March: "England, Northumberland. G Major. Standard. AABBCCDDEEFF. Composed by musician, teacher, composer, dancing master and fiddler Robert Whinham (1814-1893), originally from Morpeth. ~ "

If anyone does have the other two parts it would be good to add another transcription, here out of consideration for the composer’s original intent, and for comparison with this take from the fiddling of Ned Pearson…

“The Cambo March” ~ composed by Robert Whinham / recorded by Peter Kennedy

Damn, slipped, sorry ~ the influences of strong cider… :-/

“Remember Me: The Fiddle Music of Robert Whinham”

Graham Dixon
Wallace Music, 1995
A collection of Whinham tunes with notes and a biography…

It’s on my Christmas list along with his "The Lads Like Beer: The Fiddle Music of James Hill" ~ but sadly I think these may now be out of print… :-(

“The Cambo March” ~ composed by Robert Whinham

I have just had this tune played for me over the phone. I can now confirm that these a the first four parts of his composition and the repeats are in it, so AABBCCDD… A 5th and 6th part and a Coda were also played for me, but I actually prefer this tune with just the four parts. However, when I get those notes in the post, when they arrive, I will out of courtesy for free choice and consideration for the composer, add some semblance of them here. I was told that the ‘Coda’ was how the piper Billy Pigg took the tune and that what was being played for me over the phone was a transcription of his piping…

When I’ve the EEFF & Coda I’ll be back, though the latter is for the individual musician to make his own closing statement, so I won’t be adding Pigg’s Coda (‘tail’)…

“The Cambo March” by Robert Whinham ~ takes on EE & FF:

|: d>d |
d4 g2 d>d | e4 g2 d>d | a4 a>^ga>b | a6 dd/d/ |
d4 gG (3Bcd | e4 a3 a | g2 g2 f>gaf | g6 :|
|: d2 |
d>d dd/d/ dBdg | d>B d/e/f/g/ d3 d | adbd adbg | a/b/a/g/ f>e d/e/d/c/ B>c |
dd/d/ dd/d/ dB (3deg | dBdg d2 (3Bcd | ad/d/ dc/d/ bd/d/ dc/d/ | g2 g/a/g/f/ g2 :|

I got an early Christmas gift… :-)
Sadly, "The Lads Like Beer" is no longer available in print… :-(