Over the last 20 years more and more musicians’ tune books from the 18th and 19th centuries have been uncovered and published, either in print or on the Internet - notably on the Village Music website. From these collections it is apparent that in many musicians’ repertoires, country dance tunes sat happily alongside pieces by popular composers of the day – Handel, Haydn, Hook and Dibdin for example.

There is no evidence that either of these tunes ever entered the repertoire of a village fiddler, but they are just the sort of piece which did turn up in manuscripts of that period.

Round about the Maypole and Asiatic are by our old friend John Baptist Malchair (1729-1812), leader of the band at the Holywell Music Room in Oxford. They are contained in a handwritten manuscript in the Bodleian library entitled Tunes composed by John Malchair.

This book was compiled by Malchair’s younger friend and amanuensis William Crotch, who added pianoforte arrangements to some of the tunes (our cello part for Round about the Maypole was written by Crotch). He also added brief notes: “Dancing round the May Pole took its rise from Pagan idolatry” (discuss, using both sides of the paper).

Appears on Six For Gold