Origins: The Morris Dancers

Subject: RE: PermaThread™ Unanswered Requests
From: collieflower
Date: 08 Nov 09 - 12:36 PM

Looking for a song called The Morris Dances, or something like it, from an old (40s) Silver Burdett/Ginn school music book. Lyrics begin with: " Fiddlers are tuning, timing it clean, while the Morris dancers tread the green. Stepping together, maidens and men all a sway dance in the May again". I'm issing one line of the lyrics and it's driving me crazy!

Subject: ADD: The Morris Dancers
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 May 23 - 09:43 PM

Marian Gade sang this at the Mudcat Singaround last week. From her email:

Learned in c.1943-44 from Christine Mills, Principal of Mt. Rainier Elementary School, Mt. Rainier, MD. I have discovered in recent years that many of the songs she taught us were English folk tunes, some a version of Child Ballads (Raggle-taggle Gypsies, Oh; Strawberry Fair...)
I think there may have ben a second verse, but this is what sticks in my memory:

THE MORRIS DANCERS

Fiddlers are tuning, timing it clean,
While the Morris Dancers tread the green.
Stepping together, maiden and men,
All a-sway dance in the May again.
[tune changes here]
Blossoms of the pear tree
Deck anew the bare tree.
Spring is a-brining leaf and flower.
Now it's toe, now it's hee,
Now all together, wheel,
While the folk attest who dances best.

Marian Gade

Anybody know anything more about this song? What's the melody?

Subject: RE: Origins: The Morris Dancers
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 May 23 - 09:50 PM

From this message, I gather that the melody is "English Country Garden."

Thread #1006   Message #3075
Posted By: Dick Wisan
13-Mar-97 - 10:29 PM
Thread Name: Origins: English Country Garden
Subject: RE: English Country Garden Lyrics

Are you thinking of the tune Percy Grainger made out of "The Vicar of Bray"? Used to be played, along with the Shepherd's Hay (Hey?) by pit musicians between the acts on Broadway theatres (in the days when there were pit musicians at non-musicals).

If so, we sang it in school. Let's see how much of it I can remember.

Fiddlers a-tuning, timing it clean
While the morris dancers tread the green
(bis) Blossoms of the pear tree
Deck anew the bare tree
Spring is a-bringing leaf and flow'r
Now it's toe, now it's heel
Now all together wheel
While the old folks test
Who dances best

That's _not_ all of it, and I've probably left out bits in the middle, but it's not bad after not thinking of it for the last thirty years or so.