For those interested in 'abc', I just created a new page at my website. It is part one of a project by Steve Bliven, who transcribed the book "John of The Greeny Cheshire Way".

http://www.mcn.net/~acflynn/Cheshire.html

I just received it from Steve about 15 minutes ago. Here is the introduction:

JOHN OF THE GREENY CHESHIRE WAY
by John Offord

INTRODUCTION [to the printed edition] Folk-dance music in England is now dominated by the melodeon, a comparatively new instrument which became common in the middle of the last century, along with the polka, perhaps the most popular dance rhythm. Up to this time, the most common instrument by far was the fiddle, although the pipe and tabour were used for Morris dancing. From the time of the first edition of Playford's "Dancing Master" in 1650, nearly all the collections of English music are for this instrument. At the end of the seventeenth century, the new, loud Italian violin came into vogue, giving over two octaves within easy reach and a choice of any key or accidental. This led to an increase in music for the instrument and helped to oust old instruments such as bagpipes, in one form or another once common in some areas, expecially the north. Some of the music in this book is said to be for bagpipes in the original publication (Walsh c. 1730, Wright c. 1715, see bibliography) and this can now be proved, although it might have been adapted for the fiddle.

This collection is mainly taken from books dating from 1705 to 1816 and for the most part is concerned with the old type of hornpipe which was usually in 3/2 or 9/4. This musical form was very popular, especially in the north-west and has relatives in Northumberland, Wales and Scotland, where it was known as the "double" hornpipe, a term I will now use. The Northumberland piper Jimmy Allen (1734-1810) stated that the double hornpipe originated in the Cheviots, but many of the surviving pieces seem to be from Lancashire and cheshire and often have a distinct regional flavour.

TRANSCRIBER'S INTRODUCTION
At Mr. Offord's suggestion, only the first portion of the book is transcribed here. The untranscribed remainder consists of jigs, hornpipes in common time and general material used in theatres, the ballroom or by bands of waits. Some waltzes were also included which were "probably brought over from the Continent, along with other music, by soldiers fighting in the Napoleonic wars." The material here was transcribed directly from the book as prepared by Mr. Offord. It was prepared using BarFly v.1d15, a program written by Phil Taylor. The transcription was done, with Mr. Offord's permission, by Steve Bliven (bliven@massed.net).

Happy playing!!
Alice in Montana