Jack Campin wrote:
> I thought, youch, that last
> bit sure hit the spot.
> [...]
> - a few rather obscure songs like "Fee him, father, fee him".
There's The Wee Cooper of Fife, which I wouldn't exactly call obscure
-- it is to be found in many readily available books of Scottish folk
songs. It's not a popular session tune, though (or is it?).
> Are there many more? Do we need to start a Movement for the
> Preservation of Scottish Tunes In Funny Sizes?
There are two fairly well-known (recent) Scottish country dances by Hugh
Foss which use non-8-bar phrases. One is The Wee Cooper of Fife, written
in 10-bar phrases to the song of the same name, and the other is Cairn
Edward, which is in 6-bar phrases to a specially written set of tunes
(also by Foss). Apparently there are some 10-bar tunes which are
suitable as alternatives for TWCoF, such as `Last May a Braw Wooer'
(which incidentally is also a dance, albeit much less well-known, by
John Drewry), or `O Wha's at the Window'. Some people have written their
own (yours truly included). In general the idea doesn't seem to have
caught on.
Another dance with non-8-bar music is Tweedside, to the eponymous air,
which is also in 6-bar phrases (IIRC). There is a dance to the Princess
Royal (called, surprisingly enough, The Princess Royal), of which one
turn is 28 bars long.
Anselm
--
Anselm Lingnau .......................................... [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it
through not dying. -- Woody Allen
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