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Roving Sailor
American, Reel or March (4/4 time). USA, southwestern Pa.
ARTIST: Bayard from Kuntz. Levi Hall (Fayette County, Pa., 1944) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 126, pg. 69.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: 1900s- 1981 Bayard
RECORDING INFO:
RELATED TO: Betty Martin (lyrics); Granny Will Your Dog Bite? (lyrics)
OTHER NAMES: "William Taylor"
PRINT SOURCES: Levi Hall (Fayette County, Pa., 1944) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 126, pg. 69.
NOTES: ROVING SAILOR, THE [2]. A Dorian. Standard. ABB. The tune is used more for songs than dancing, states Bayard (1981), and in Ireland is joined to the ballad "William Taylor." In Pennsylvania it was a song and play-party tune, and was used as a dance tune by fiddlers. This ditty was sung to it:
**
Come, my little roving sailor,
Come, my little roving bee,
Come, my little roving sailor,
Won't you ring around with me?
**
Chorus:
Granny will your dog bite? No, child, no, child,
Granny will your dog bite? No, child, no.
**
An alternative chorus was:
Little Betty Martin, tiptoe, tiptoe,
Little Betty Martin, tiptoe fine.
**
Source for notated version: Levi Hall (Fayette County, Pa., 1944) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 126, pg. 69.
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