The Lincolnshire Collections: The Joshua Gibbons Manuscript

Tunes from a variety of sources, collected in Tealby, Lincolnshire between 1823 and 1826 by Joshua Gibbons, a papermaker. The original manuscript was meant as a working note-book. It is a snapshot of a village musician's repertoire, the tunes being tightly packed and written down just as Joshua Gibbons learned them. A portion of the tunes were arranged in the manuscript into sets for dancing, mixing 3/8's and 6/8's, 4/4's and 6/8's, 6/8's and 2/2's, and 2/2's and 9/8's. Quicksteps were mixed with Reels and Waltzes with Quadrilles. The collection is unusual in that it also contains 30 tunes harmonized for two or three instruments. In this edition, the tunes have been grouped by category and then in alphabetical order, placing the tunes sets first and their spellings are as near as can be deciphered from the original. The tunes are presented in notation only (without chord symbols). These melodies are playable on fiddle, recorder, or other melody instruments.