MUSIC
La Poule Houpee & La Chasse
Two French bourees in 3/8 time. La Poule Houpee (Crested hen) was written by Gilles Chabenat, a hurdy gurdy player, whereas La Chasse, meaning the hunt, is a traditional French tune. A bourree is a French dance that was popular in the Auvergne and in Biscay in Spain in the seventeenth century, and is still danced in Auvergne.
Lakeland Waltzes
The three Lakeland Waltzes were written by Chris Dewhurst in 1989. They are called Loweswater, Crummock Water and Buttermere.
Coleraine set
Coleraine/Lilting Banshee/My Darling Asleep Three Irish double jigs in 6/8. It is not clear whether the tune Coleraine originated in Ireland or America. Coleraine is a town in Northern Ireland, but this tune is popular for New England contra dances. The phrase Lilting Banshee is a bit of a misnomer. A banshee is a female spirit in Irish mythology. She appears when someone is about to die, and starts weeping and wailing. My Darling Asleep is a very popular traditional session tune. Coleraine and Lilting Banshee are in dorian mode, but My Darling Asleep sounds very different and is in Ionian mode.
Oh Susannah set
Oh Susannah,/Old Joe Clark/Liza Jane. According to good old Wikipedia Oh Susanna is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826-1864), and is among the most popular American songs ever written. Old Joe Clark is a US folk song which was popular with eastern Kentucky soldiers during and after World War 1 . Joseph Clark was a real person - a Kentucky mountaineer born in 1839 and murdered in 1885. Liza Jane is thought to have been sung by slaves in Louisiana before the American Civil War.
Barbara Allen set
Barbara Allen/Hasty Jig. Barbara Allen is probably derived from the tune called a hornpipe, which appears in the manuscripts of William Irwin, a Cumbrian fiddler. Hasty Jig should have been a jig, but isn’t. It was written in a hurry by our very own Frankie Cleeve, who had been set a time-limited task of composing a jig (which would be in 6/8 time) and did it in such a hurry she didn’t realise until afterwards that she had composed a reel in 4/4.