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Description: | Corn Riggs is still widely known as a short dance and song tune. Whether originally Scottish or English, it appears early (from 1679) in Playford under the Sawney titles, but is now associated with one of Burns; earliest and finest lyrics.Different sets of variations were written to it in the 18th century, but this particular set seems to be known only in Northumbrian sources, and is something of a mystery. It is also in the Charlton Memorial Tune Book and in the Clough manuscripts (reproduced in The Clough Family of Newsham, Ormston & Say), substantially the same as in Hall's manuscript but in the more usual key of D. The Hall variations include the octave and triplet passages of the Charlton/Clough version, suggesting that the assertion in Clough's ms that 'Thomas Todd wrote the last two variations to this tune' was mistaken - but who did write them?This tune forms part of a fascinating manuscript from the collection of Graham Wells. It is dated 1833, but nothing more is known about it apart from the compiler's name, John Hall, and the internal evidence of the music. Hall was evidently not a fiddler as the tunes are mainly transposed to a higher pitch than usual. Some kind of wind instrument is likely, especially as a few of the items appear to be sketch wind band arrangements or band harmony parts. The book may have originated in West Northumberland as there are some unique items with local titles (Bellingham Hiring and Allenheads Feast). There is an intriguingly early appearance of the Corn Riggs variations later associated with the Clough family, and several other distinctly local tunes. As with many local collections there is a fair proportion of Scottish tunes as well as the ballroom tunes of the day, showing the eclectic kind of repertoire that a 19th century (village?) musician might be expected to have. ; Early nineteenth century tune book compiled by John Hall | Rights holder: | rights holder : Graham Wells | Temporal: | start=1801;end=1840; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:W0205700 | Go to resource |
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