The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #46310 Message #3889620
Posted By: Brian Peters
21-Nov-17 - 12:08 PM
Thread Name: Origin: Saint James Infirmary Blues
Subject: RE: Origin: Saint James Infirmary Blues
Steve, I think I may have what you're looking for:
Exhibit A: Unfortunate Rake in the Traditional Tune Archive, version #1 from Ryan (1883).
Exhibit B: 'The Doctor' from Henry Adams, coll. George Gardiner 1906. This goes with a a recognizable Roud 2 text (with some interesting idiosyncracies).
The first bar is identical, and the shapes of the two tunes are sufficiently close that I would say they are clearly related, though obviously the song has half the number of bars.
Anyone agree with me?
Thanks for the Thorp text, Lighter.