Annotation:Enrico

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X:1 T:Enrico M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Country Dance Tune B:William Cahusac – The German Flute Preceptor (c. 1814, p. 18) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D A|df/e/ d/c/d/B/|AA FF|df/e/ d/e/f/d/|e2 {^g}a2| df/e/ d/c/d/B/|AA FF|df/e/ f/d/e/c/|ddd:| |:f/g/|aa/g/ ff/e/|dd/e/ f/d/e/f/|g/a/g/f/ e/f/e/d/|c/d/e/c/ AA| Ad c/e/c/A/|Ad c/e/c/A/|Ad c/e/c/A/|Add:|]



ENRICO. AKA – "Henryco," "Water Loo Fair." AKA and see "Fountain's Hornpipe," "Jacob," "Merry Quick Steps," "Reel de la jument grise." English, Reel (cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. In England (where it has for years been popular in sessions) “Enrico” is now usually played as a reel or hornpipe, but evidence suggests it was originally a march. Older hornpipe versions did exist, however.

The two strains of "Enrico/Jacob" are found in Ireland (e.g. Roche Collection, vol. 3, no. 198, p.77), preceded by a first strain from the march "Dog and Gun", patched together as an Irish march under the title of “Mountcashel's Brigade”. Fr. John Quinn finds cognates in the mid-19th century music manuscript collection of County Cork uillean piper and cleric James Goodman under the title Fountain's Hornpipe (AKA "Miss Lacey's") and as an untitled tune in the 1883 music manuscript collection of County Leitrim fiddler and piper Stephen Grier.

Montreal fiddler Joseph Allard recorded a version of "Enrico" in 1931 under the title "Reel de la jument grise" <div class="mw-ext-score" data-midi="/w/images/lilypond/d/9/d91pn62fjqnhhrw9olstmr0p0161sks/d91pn62f.midi"><img src="/w/images/lilypond/d/9/d91pn62fjqnhhrw9olstmr0p0161sks/d91pn62f.png" width="697" height="97" alt=" X:1 T:Reel de la jument grise M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel K:D A2|d2 fe dcdB|ABAG F2A2|d2 fe d2f2|e2a2 agfe| "/></div> (Gray Mare Reel).

The tune appears in the Thomas Hardy MSS, where the famous author, for reasons which are not apparent, also bestows the alternative title of “Jacob” on it. It was said to have been his favourite tune (although “Soldier’s Joy” is also credited as such). The title appears in Hardy's (who was also an accomplished accordion player and fiddler) drama The Dynasts:

Let us go and look at the dancing. It is 'Voulez-vous danser'
– no, it is not, – it is 'Enrico' – two ladies between two gentlemen.

According to Hardy's biography, the four-year old Hardy would sometimes burst into tears when his father played this and other tunes to him on the fiddle. Hardy, around the year 1925, wrote that "Enrico" was the usual vehicle for the country dance called Bonnets of Blue, or in Dorset when he was young, Hands Across. In his novel Under the Greenwood Tree the dance is described (but not named) as the one in which Shiner refuses to cast off (E.F.D.S. News, No. 12, Sept., 1926). The 19th century Welch family (Bosham, Sussex) music manuscripts gives the alternate title "Water Loo Fair" (whilst calling "Enrico" by the name "Henryco"). The Rev. Robert Harrison (Brampton, Cumbria, 1820) music manuscript gives the title as "Errico," as does Shropshire musician Robert Hughes (Whitchurch, 1823), and W. Cock's (Northumberland) manuscript collection has it as "Henrico." James Haslingden (Midlands?, 1827), Miss Best (c. 1850), and a manuscript of unknown date and origin (called MS36) all contain the melody under the "Enrico" title. A 2/4 time version of the tune may also be found in the mid-19th century music manuscript (p. 101) of William Winter (1774-1861), a shoemaker and violin player who lived in West Bagborough in Somerset, southwest England. It appears there as "Merry Quick Steps," reinforcing the tune's dual use as a march.


Additional notes



Printed sources : - Barber (Nick Barber's English Choice), 2002; No. 37, p. 20. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; p. 42 (appears as "Fast Packet", the name of a dance by Bob Lily set to the tune). William Cahusac (The German Flute Preceptor), c. 1814; p. 18. Songer (Portland Collection, vol. 2), 2005; p. 57. Trim (The Musical Heritage of Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 13 (appears as "Jacob"). Geoff Woolfe (William Winter’s Quantocks Tune Book), 2007; No. 295, p. 107 (as "Merry Quick Step"), ms. originally dated 1850).

Recorded sources : - Beautiful Jo Records BEJOCD-28, The Mellstock Band – "The Dance at Pheonix: Village Band Music from Hardy's Wessex and Beyond" (1999). DMPCD0203, Nick & Mary Barber with Huw Jones - "Bonnie Kate." EFDSSCD13, Julian Goodacre – "Hardcore English" (2007. Various artists). Mrs. Casey Records 3991, Eliza Carty & Nancy Kerr (1993. Appears as "Waterloo Fair or the Henryco"). Saydisc CDSDL 360, The Mellstock Band – “Under the Greenwood Tree” (recorded 1986). Saydisc CDSDL449, The Mellstock Band - "Traditional Dance Music of Britain & Ireland" (2018). White House WHCD03, Julian Goodacre – "Pipemaker Calls Yer Tunes."




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