Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel

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Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel

12 Mar 13 - 09:53 AM (#3489525)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Tug the Cox

In the Country Dance books Sharp gives this tune for a dance of the same name, but also suggests it use for 'The Good man...' for which he produces no original tune.There are many versions, one innthe CDM's and the Headington Morris dance.

12 Mar 13 - 10:33 AM (#3489535)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Mr Happy

Yes indeed, I found 2 completely different tunes with the same name.

12 Mar 13 - 10:33 AM (#3489536)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: GUEST,Peter Laban

I know the tune from an Irish context, it was recorded by the group Bakerswell during the mid eighties. They gave no further references.

13 Mar 13 - 04:44 AM (#3489844)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: GUEST,Howard Jones

The tune is in Playford and seems to pop up in the tradition in several different areas.

13 Mar 13 - 06:10 AM (#3489864)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Mr Happy

Re the different names of this piece, I suspect ' Hunt the Squirrel' is the name of the dance & 'Geud Man of Ballangigh' is the actual name of the tune

13 Mar 13 - 08:39 PM (#3490030)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Tug the Cox

Mr Happy...in the Country dance tunes, C.Sharp...two different dances appear on consecutive pges, and share a tune.Both have dance notations GMofB has no tune.

13 Mar 13 - 09:20 PM (#3490050)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Bert

How does the dance go? Is it related to "Chase the Rabbit, Chase the Squirrel"?

14 Mar 13 - 04:55 AM (#3490121)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Banjo-Flower

look up imagproc on youtube you may find the dance there

Gerry

14 Mar 13 - 05:11 AM (#3490126)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel

Didn't the Committee Band do this as "Fig and Banana"?
(Vocal performance by the Hammersmith Men's shouting choir)
"Stick it up your jumper!
Fig and banana, fig and banana.
Stick it up your jumper!
Fig and banana roll"

14 Mar 13 - 05:27 AM (#3490136)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Bert

Hunt the squirrel

Chase the Rabbit

14 Mar 13 - 10:59 AM (#3490254)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Mo the caller

And Geud man

14 Mar 13 - 11:38 AM (#3490269)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Bert

That's a nice dance Mo, looks as though it may have some French influence.

14 Mar 13 - 12:38 PM (#3490305)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Mr Happy

Even though its in Playford, I think it may be a European import, from how it sounds

14 Mar 13 - 01:28 PM (#3490326)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Mo the caller

The square dance is very slick, Bert. Our club has a record of Jonesy calling that but it's not obvious (just listening to the call) where he chases her, so thanks for that.
Watching the way the lead changes reminds me of a figure that has come into English Dancing fairly recently. The Dolphin Hey. It involves 4 people but the ends are weaving too - a hey or reel for 3 with the 'active couple' working as one unit, but changing the leader at each end. Can't find it on Youtube Google gives this site with decriptions but Yahoo thinks Hey is a greeting and Reel is something you catch fish (surely not dolphins) with.

15 Mar 13 - 07:44 AM (#3490652)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Weasel

There's a beautiful, slow setting of "Hunt the Squirrel" by Ernest Tomlinson in his "First Suite of English Folk Dances" for orchestra.

Cheers,

Weasel

15 Mar 13 - 01:39 PM (#3490774)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: GUEST,Seayaker

What do you play it with?

(To practise for Anglesey)

15 Mar 13 - 07:17 PM (#3490892)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Bert

Mo, while I prefer the challenge of Modern American Square, I still love the old traditional dances.

16 Mar 13 - 07:41 AM (#3491027)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Mo the caller

We went to a MWS class for a while, but had to drop out for family reasons before we 'graduated'. Some parts of it we really liked - listening and responding to the call rather than remembering. Some we were less keen on - the fact that if you went to a public dance it was either V. easy or mainstream/plus; the way they seemed more interested in costume than dancing in time to the music (swishing the skirt to show the knickers); the push for ever more complex levels; and because we'd dropped out we would have had to start at the beginning again.
There are some callers at English festivals who include some squares among the contra's that they call - walk through the figure but the breaks are thrown at us as a surprise (building on the callers assessment of the knowledge of the floor). I think that is most satisfying.

Sorry John, we're chasing a different squirrel here.

Back on topic - one of the Chester bands plays Hunt the Squirrel in the minor as well as the major (or does something odd with it - makes us prick up our little red ears and twitch our bushy tails)

16 Mar 13 - 07:50 AM (#3491035)
Subject: RE: Tune Add: Hunt the Squirrel
From: Bert

...dancing in time to the music... Ah yes, there are some of them out there.

Thread drift...

We did some Advanced classes a way back. Now that was fun. We had two callers, one would get the dancers all mixed up, then he'd hand the mic over to his buddy who would have to sort them back to their places. None of your 32 measures stuff, the records went on for ages.