Upton-upon-Severn Stick Dance jig

Athough this is an English tune, I believe that it would sit well in an Irish session.

I have submitted it in A-major (as I prefer it in that key), but it is more commonly played in G-Major.

The first note of the tune is the weak beat and as such should come before the repeat barline which starts the tune. The sheetmusic tune has got itself confused so the barlines are shifted one note to the left. Try this

c|:e2c cBA|

Hi geoffwright

Thanks for feedback - a good spot and you are (w)right of course!

I had actually aready spotted my own error, and was in the process of correcting it when I read your comment. Revised abc version now uploaded (although sheet music not yet auto-updated).

Please have another look at the abc and shout again if you still think that it’s wrong!

Mix O’Lydian

There is, I believe, a fair amount of material on the internet about the revival of this dance in the late 1960’s by the Chingford Morris Men. Their musicians played it in A major. I remember reading that the tune is indeed an Irish tune called ‘Twin Sisters’, but I’ve never bothered to track down an original version.

Hi Jock Strapp

Thank you for your interesting comments. I had no idea that Chingford Morris Men played it in A when they revived it. There are of course no Gs in the tune (and therefore no G#s to play) which seems to add weight to the argument. In this respect, the tune is smilar to "Health to the Ladies" (if set in AMaj).

You also seemed to have explained why I felt that the tune had an Irish feel to it. After reading your comment, I did indeed find a tune called "Twin Sisters". Unfortunately it turned out to be an entirely different melody in 4/4 time. You may of course still be right about the "Alt" name!

Mix O’Lydian

This tune was collected by Maud Karpeles in the USA and suggested by her for the dance. The Welsh Border Morris Men played it in the early 70s but changed to Girl I left Behind Me or similar, seen in Upton sat lunchtime before xmas.

Just a note that its actually the Upton UPON Severn stick dance as Upton doesn’t float on the Severn

Sorry Hurlock - I did know that it was "upon" and not "on" - must have been a bout of finger trouble when I first posted it. Sincere apologies. You were quite right to give me some "stick" about it.

I think that this village made quite a good attempt at "floating" on the Severn back in last year’s floods though!

Oh, although you didn’t mention my missing hyphens, I’ve put those in as well now:-)

X: 2
T: Upton-upon-Severn Stick Dance, The
T: Upton-on-Severn Stick Dance
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Gmaj
|: d |\
dBB BAG | AGA BGE | DGG GBd | edB A2 d |
dBB BAG | AGA BGE | DGG GAB | AGF G2 :|
|: G |\
GBd g2 g | edc BcA | GBd g2 g | edB A2 A |
GBd g2 g | edc Bcd | ege dBG | AGF G2 :|

I’ve danced the Upton-on-Severn Stick Dance many times and the previous submission by Mix O’Lydian is not the same tune I danced to. Thus, the version I know and love.

# Posted on December 6th 2008 by Feadan

http://www.uptonuponsevern.net/