In browsing Joan Strasbaugh’s ‘The List Lover’s Guide to Jane Austen’ I came by a song in JA’s music book, Mrs. Hamilton of Pencaitland’s Strathspey.
(CelticJaneite has never heard the word Strathspey. She doesn’t know where Pencaitland is. But she once had a boyfriend named Hamilton, so she is not completely ignorant, in fact, for a time, she wondered if she would like to be Mrs. Hamilton, if she had, she might have heard of a Strathspey sooner).
WIKIPEDIA: A strathspey is a type of dance tune in 4/4 time. It is similar to a hornpipe but slower and more stately, and contains many dot-cut 'snaps.
WIKIPEDIA: A strathspey is a type of dance tune in 4/4 time. It is similar to a hornpipe but slower and more stately, and contains many dot-cut 'snaps.
Off to YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNJ35z0iTJA (the music starts at 1:40)
Oh so they are Strathspeys! I am familiar with the tunes. The 2nd tune is one which I learned as a child, with the profound lyrics ‘oh the cat has a gumboil, a toothache, a bellyache, a pain in his left leg, a pimple on his toe!’ Sorry all Cat Lovers, I don’t like it either…but I think the ''cat'' was a human, maybe the crotchety Laird or the King - I was reminded recently of ‘Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie…kissed the girls and made them cry…the Prince Regent?
Back to Mrs. Hamilton’s Strathspey”: here is one version:
No comments:
Post a Comment