On 15 Jul 2011, Francis Wood wrote: > there is an odd, tenuous and completely inconsequential connection between > Shield and Morpeth. Shield is buried in Westminster Abbey.
Shield did not include the tune in his 1817 book: he did include other tunes he had collected. There is an article written by David Geddes about Shield (in particular the Keel Row variations) in the 1999 NPS magazine. Clough's assignment to Shield is in what I regard as one of the less "reliable" parts of his collection. It is a book comprised of Hill and other hornpipes, again with some misattributions (claiming "The Arethusa" for Hill, for instance). They are also somewhat idiosyncratic versions in some cases. Without strong corroborative evidence, I would not be inclined to use it as a definitive statement of authorship. The Morpeth Rant is listed in Gore's Fiddle Index in a 1790 publication (Anderson), a 1790-1817 (Campbell), 1823 (Nath. Gow), 1790-1805 (Petrie), 1788-1794 (MacDonald - Gow's cellist), and 1798 (two Highand ladies). But these are only published, Scottish, and fiddle sources. What it does indicate is that it was widespread and popular by these dates. So is arguably earlier. Julia To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
