Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.
Currently working on errors from the latest (SimplePress) forum update. Many issues have been resoled and others are being worked on. Thank you for your patience.
Log In
Register
Topic RSS
(5 votes) 
Regulars
Offline
This tune was written by the last court jester in England for his play hurlothrumbo which ran in the west end for 52 weeks, he was jester at gawsworth hall in cheshire Wngland his fiddle hangs on the wall inside the great hall, and his grave is in a nearby wood. Apparwntly he often played tunes while stood on stilts and telling jokes at the same time, I went to visit the hall yesterday, hope my rwndition of his tune would make him pleased. The une itself would have been repeated over and over while his play went on.
Learned this this morning about ten minutes ago, goin to uploaad an image of the hall later, Elisazbeth fitton came from there and ia spposed to be the dark lady of Shakespeares sonnets.
Cant beat a sunny day
Regulars
Offline
@stringy -
Quite a joyful tune - loved the history info!
Thanks for sharing it on your fiddle!
Have a particular reason you'd rather share your playing in 'genre' instead of the 'Share a video of yourself playing'? I was just curious.
Regulars
Offline
Too be honest, I actually thought it may interest you personally, especially as you cant get more English than a court jester, they composed most of the music from this period. Jester in those days meant entertainer, Johnson for instance was a musician as well as a dancing master , wit, and playright. This one was adapted as an English country dance. His name Maggoty means he had lots of thoughts and ideas in his head.
Cant beat a sunny day
Regulars
Offline
Thank you, this makes sense.
Definitely interesting to me, so I read more at Wikipedia.
Great to find Samuel Johnson (my Mother's maiden name) was quite multi-talented & lived to a ripe old age!
During the last 30 years of his life, Johnson retired to the village of Gawsworth, near Macclesfield, where he was known under the nicknames Maggoty or Fiddler Johnson.
Johnson died at Gawsworth New Hall on 5 May 1773, aged 82, and was buried in a wood nearby. The wood is still known as Maggoty Wood and reputed to be haunted by his ghost.
...guess it's time to play some more Maggots!
I do like English tunes - still play at least one every week.
Regulars
Offline
This was the only one I could find of his, so not 100 per cent its accurate, but I think its fairly close. He was buried in the wood because the the women of the town talked about him and he said he didnt want to be buried in the churchyard with gossips. Wish I hadmphotographed his fiddle, it looks a beautiful instrument with a lion head scroll, its probably worth more than the hall itself. The chappel inside the hall was built in 1365.
Cant beat a sunny day
Regulars
Offline
Very cool!
Here is notation at the Traditional Tune Archive (Hurlothrumbo).
I like the ABC's are there, too - can be copy/pasted to Michael Eskin's ABC Tools - where midi can be changed to violin, tempo changed (add small amount of swing if you want) & play-along. Can take some of the guesswork out of these tunes.
So happy you find obscure stuff!!!
This kind of tune seems soooo 'English' - hard to mistake the 'pomp', 'prim & proper' feel for anything else!
Regulars
Offline
My first thought was you would be interested in this, knowing that you collect off the wall tunes, thats why I got this one and recorded it this morning. Only found it at about 10 last night, plucked it on the fiddle, but read it and used the bow this morning, must admit I took about 12 attempts at recording it, even though its simple, but like I have said before I have to hear a tune first and with this one couldnt find a recording anywhere.
Definately English sound no doubt about that. Apparently he spent a lot of time in London near covent garden and I wondered if he was trying in parts of the tune to recreate the sound of all the church bells.
Going to have a look at your link now, just hope I was in the same ball park, but if not I will give it another go.
Cant beat a sunny day
Regulars
Offline
Cant find the abc,s Emily, unless I amjust being thick
Cant beat a sunny day
Regulars
Offline
@stringy -
It's right under the standard notation.
Looks like this (below), YOU CAN JUST COPY THIS.
Then, go to Michael Eskin's ABC Tools - click 'okay' to the 'Welcome', then paste this (below) into the box. Should then see the notation displayed underneath, use arrow at bottom right - takes you to next page to 'play' it!
The ABC's for Hurlothrumbo:
X:1
T:Hurlothrumbo
M:2/4
L:1/8
R:Country Dance
B:Wright's Compleat Collection of Celebrated Country Dances (London, 1740, p. 83)
Z:AK/FIddler's Companion
K:G
G2G2|G3G|A2d2| B G3::(dB) (ec)|(dB) (ec)|
d2 cB|A4|A2d2| B^cdG|F2E2|D4:|
|:A2A2|A2D2|I(GB) (Ac)|B2G2|d2d2 d2G2|
(ce) (d=f)|e4|d2 (gf)|efgA|(cB)(AG)|G4:|]
That first page you paste the ABC's in has man tools you can explore.
I think you sounded like it in your video. 😊
There are many tunes (that are not on The Session) at the Traditional Tune Archive,
as well as other sites, that may have ABC's to hear/practice this way.
1 Guest(s)
