Round about the Maypole
Six for Gold track 3
Composed by John Baptist Malchair.
Over the last 30 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 Project 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 Round about the maypole or Asiatic 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. Both were written 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” - not a view that modern folklore scholars would necessarily subscribe to...
Round about the Maypole - sheet music (PDF - in original key of E)
Round about the Maypole - sheet music (PDF - as played by Magpie Lane, in key of G)
paired with Asiatic