Dance and Music Repertoire

Contents

• Music & Musicians
• Dance Repertoire

Music & Musicians

We are fortunate to have plenty of Morris musicians.  Our instrumental line-up comprises:

• Melodeons (D/G)
• Piano accordions
• Concertinas
• Fiddles

For most dances we play traditional tunes, with original tunes for most of our own Harbury dances. Occasionally, though, we like to ring the changes and some of our special occasion arrangements have stuck. Our repertoire table shows where we depart from the usual traditional tunes given in Lionel Bacon's Black Book.

We have written out musical notation for all the tunes we play (using computer software) so that there is a definitive tune and chord arrangement for each one. Some of the musicians use the notation to learn a new tune, some refer to the music as an occasional reminder while some play by ear exclusively. At the beginning of 2019 we embarked on a project of recording our practices so that the tunes can be used for personal music practice purposes. These recordings are of the whole dance (including the 'Once To Yourself', but not the walk on or walk off). We will add to the collection as we practice the dances.

If you want to download the recordings to your own computer, right-click on the link and select 'Save link as'.

Back to Contents

Dance Repertoire

Here are the dances we've learned and performed over the years:

Type Key:
H: Handkerchief, LS: Long Stick, SS: Short Stick, C: Clapping, J: Jig, P: Processional

Tradition Key:
Ad: Adderbury, As: Ascott-under-Wychwood, Ba: Bampton, Bl: Bledington, Bo: Border, Ch: Chingford, Ey: Eynsham, Fi: Fieldtown, Ha: Harbury, Il: Ilmington, Li: Lichfield, Ot: Other, Wi: Winster

Dance				Music
Name	Tradition	Type	Notation	Usual	Seasonal
Balancy Straw	As	LS		Balancy Straw	Deck The Halls with boughs of holly
Balancy Straw	Fi	H		Balancy Straw	Balancy Straw Fieldtown and The Holly and the Ivy
Banks of the Dee	As	LS		Banks of the Dee	We Three Kings
Black Joke	As	LS		Black Joke
Bonny Green Garters	Ba	H
Brighton Camp	As	H		Brighton Camp
Brimfield 8	Bo	SS			Jingle Bells
Bromsberrow Heath	Bo	LS
Bull Ring	Ha	H	Bull Ring	Our own original tune The Bullring
Castlering	Li	H
Constant Billy	As	LS		Constant Billy	Deck the Halls with boughs of holly
Country Gardens	As	C		Country Gardens
Exeter Triangle Dance	Ot	LS	Exeter Triangle Dance	Exeter Triangle
Figure Eight	Ey	H
Flowers of Edinburgh	Ba	H			In the bleak mid-winter or Ode to Joy
Gallant Hussar	Bl	H
Hereburgh Processional	Ha	P
Highland Mary	As	H			Ding Dong, Merrily on High
Highland Mary	Ba	H		Highland Mary/Portsmouth	Ding Dong, Merrily on High
Idbury Hill/Morning Star	Bl	H		Idbury Hill Morning Star	O Little Town of Bethlehem
Jockie to the Fair	As	J		Jockie to the fair (Double jig)
Klez Morris	Mossyback, in the style of Bl	H		Lustig Sein (Be happy)
Ladies Pleasure	Bl	J
Lads a-Bunchum	Ad	LS
Life in the Old Dog	Ha	H	Life in the old Dog	Our own original tune Life in the Old Dog
Lucy Grant's Jig	Ha	J	Lucy Grant's Jig	Our own original tune Lucy Grant's Jig
Maid of the Mill	Ey	H
Miller's Ghost	Ha	LS	Miller's Ghost	Our own original tune The Miller's Ghost ...and with Lord of the Dance	Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Milley's Bequest	Li	LS			See amid the winter's snow
Mrs Casey	As	H
Much Wenlock	Bo	SS
Musketeers	Bl	LS		Our own original tune Farnborough
Nutting Girl	As	H		Nutting Girl Single Jig
Nutting Girl	Ba	H
Old Molly Oxford	As	H		Old Molly Oxford
Old Woman Tossed Up	As	H
Orange in Bloom	As	H		Orange in Bloom
Peopleton	Bo	SS
Ring of Bells	Li	LS			Good King Wenceslas
Saturday Night	Bl	H			In Dulci Jubilo
Shepherd's Hey	As	C
Shepherd's Hey	Il	C		Shepherds Hey(Ilmington)
Sheriff's Ride	Li	H			It came upon a midnight clear
South Australia	Ot	LS		South Australia (sung)
Speed the Plough	Ba	H	Glaister's Gambol
Step and Fetch Her	Ba	H		Shave the donkey
The Bell	Ad	H
The Jubilee	Il	H		The Jubilee
Trunkles	Bl	H
Ugly Duckling	Ha	LS	Ugly Duckling	The Ugly Duckling
Upton-on-Severn Stick (Chingford version)	Ch	LS	History and figures of the Chingford Upton on Severn Stick Dance	Upton on Severn (Chingford)	The Seven Joys of Mary
Valentine	As	H		Valentine
Vandals of Hammerwich	Li	LS		Vandals of Hammerwich	Angels from the Realms of Glory
Windmill	Ha	LS	Windmill	Our own original tune The Windmill	The Seven Joys of Mary
Winster Processional	Wi	P
Young Collins	Bl	LS

Back to Contents

Site Index

• Home

• About Us
  • Past and Present
  • Music and Dance Repertoire
  • Caught on video
  • TV and radio appearances
  • The Harbury Dances

• Events

• Scrapbook
  • Video Album
  • Photo Album
  • Blog Archive
  • Events Archive

• Members

• Links

• Contact Us