New tunes
At the end of the 18th century and into the 19th, there was a vogue for little books of tunes with titles like "Preston's 24 Country Dances for the Year 1793", or "Skillern's", or whoever it might be. The English Folk Dance and Song Society have digitized quite a lot.
For the last few years, with the help of print-on-demand, I have paid homage to this tradition by collecting 12 newly written tunes each year and sending them to friends. You can download them here in PDF format.
Historic dance and tune books in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
All these tunes are free for distribution under Creative Commons CC(0)
12 tunes for the year 2021
- Reed's Fortune.
- Seyre.
- Five Miles From Anywhere, No Hurry.
- Wilton's.
- Salcombe.
- Fortescue.
- The Lord Hood.
- Hebden Polka.
- Commit No Nuisance.
- Weaver's Hornpipe.
- Filly Brook.
- Abbess Beauchamp.
12 tunes for the year 2022
- The Red Door.
- The Stok.
- Temple Garden.
- Colleen a' Hamerston.
- Borrans Jig.
- Polka for Cyriak.
- Porthcurno.
- March Brides, three Ways.
- Storth.
- Fairmead.
- Kelebriet.
- Parvilles.
12 tunes for the year 2023
- Rolling Maul Hornpipe.
- As Many As Will.
- Lads of Belly.
- The Rifleman.
- Tiroler Morris.
- The Astronaut.
- Seax Dance.
- Buttered Lumps.
- Cruickshank's.
- Keld.
- Muker.
- Wise Een.
12 tunes for the year 2024
- The Bullfinch.
- Slippery Steps.
- Miss Boys' Jig.
- It Depends.
- The Keswick Admiral.
- New Pickle.
- Ninekirks.
- Chanters Hornpipe.
- Good Gravy.
- The Luck of Edenhall.
- And Furness.
- Helsfell Carol.