Tune Cream Pot. Origins

Subject: Tune Cream Pot. Origins
From: Mo the caller
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 04:31 AM

At Whitby I heard the tune Cream Pot, played in the CHARM concert and described as a NW tune.
It sounded similar to a tune we dance to (the A part was the same).
This tune and dance is published (EFDSS 1980) in a booklet (English Country Dances Fallibroome collection 4) by Bernard Bentley, he found it in a book in the Vaughan Williams Library in book no. 2287, with no title page, "an insciption inside the cover giving the owner as Thomas Knight in 1750"
The tune was recorded by Wild Thyme.

Where did you get your version from Anahata?

Subject: RE: Tune Cream Pot. Origins
From: treewind
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 06:15 AM

A good question!
There's a version in the James Aird Book (ABC, Jack Campin's website) from 1782, but that's not the version we play, in fact I only know it's there because I spotted it the other day when I was looking for something else, and arguably it's a Scottish version. The version we play is something like the one in Brian Peters' "Rattle and Roll" tune book. Also I think it may be in The Jamie Knowles "A Northern Lass".

There is some confusion (even between Mary and me) about the penultimate bar of the B music. This may be the difference between Jamie's and Brian's versions but as I'm at work and the books are at home I can't check immediately.

With a bit of luck Greg Stephens will be along shortly to make a more informed pronouncement about the tune's origins and history.

Anahata

Subject: RE: Tune Cream Pot. Origins
From: Lynn W
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 07:18 AM

The Cream Pot is in Vickers - can't give a reference at the moment as I'm at work. However, I learnt it as Grace Hay's Delight from the Niel Gow collection and the Fiddlers Five CD. I noticed that people calling it the Cream Pot played a different B part so I looked it up in the Great Northern Tunebook and found an intriguing note - from memory, Vickers said something like "this second part is wrong, it is right on page ??" but the page referred to is missing from the manuscript - so perhaps he intended it to be the Grace Hay version? Now I'm outed as a real tune anorak!

Subject: RE: Tune Cream Pot. Origins
From: treewind
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 07:27 AM

It's also known as the Kern Staff.

A.