Annotation:British Hero (The)
X:1 T:British Hero, The M:6/8 L:1/8 S:William Vickers (1770) K:G c|B/c/dc BGB|cAc BGB|B/c/dc BGB|AFG ABc| B/c/dc BGB|cAc BGB|gfe dcB|AFG AB:| |:c|BAG GDG|BGB gdc|BAG GDG|AFG ABc| BAG GDG|BGB gdc|efg dcB|AFG AB:||
BRITISH HERO, THE. AKA and see "Cox's Maggot," "Female Hero (The)," "British Hero's Reel." English, Scottish; Jig or Quickstep (6/8 time). England, Northumberland. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. John Glen (1891) finds the tune first in print in Neil Stewart's 1761 collection (Newest and Best Reels... p. 30), although it had appeared a year earlier in London publisher David Rutherford's Compleat Collection of 200 country Dances, vol. 2 (1760). In addition to William Vickers' Northumbrian music manuscript collection, it appears in the late 18th/early 19th century music copybook of British army fifer John Buttery (1784-1854), who joined the 34th Regiment in Lincoln. James Aird prints the tune as "Female Hero (The)."
