Charles Benfield was the main informant for the Bledington tunes, most of which were noted by Cecil Sharp at Benfield’s house at Bould (Oxon), a hamlet about a mile from Bledington (Glos). CJ Sharp wrote, 2 September 1909: “Ch. Benfield was fiddler to the Bledington Morris till it lapsed about 15-20 years ago. He afterwards taught some younger men but could not induce them to continue. He is an agricultural labourer and a keen morris dancer. His fiddle was bridge-less and bow-less so he half hummed and half whistled this & following 2 tunes.”
Gallant Huzzar RK Schofield collected the same A and B strains, but without the C music, probably from George Hathawasy, 14 Aug. 1937.
Unusually, C Sharp published Gallant Huzzar twice in his Morris Dance Books (MDB) , nos. 3 and 5, as well as in his Morris Dance Tunes (MDT), which, incidentally, strike me as being aimed largely at the amateur pianist market (where the sales lay). The first time it appears in his MDB 3 and MDT Set 5, pp 14-15i, as collected, arranged for piano,. In Sets 1-8 Sharp collaborated with Herbert Macilwaine, while in sets 9 and 10 he was joined by George Butterworth. Gallant Hussar appears again in MDB 5 and MDT set 9ii. The A and B strains are the same as in Set 5, even down to the piano arrangement. But the C music has been considerably changed. The original bars 17-20 are a slower version of bars 9 and 10, to allow for longer and more elaborate steps. In MDT 9 there a half bar in 2/4 at the beginning and end of three slow bars. This version of the tune, for which I know no traditional justification, has been repeated by Lionel Bacon in his Handbook of Morris Dances. I suggest that, now that CJ Sharp’s manuscripts are readily available through the VWML website, it is time for a revision.
i Sharp CJ & Macilwaine HC, 1910, Morris Dance Tunes Set V pp 14-15 London, Novello
ii Sharp CJ & Butterworth G 1911? Morris Dance Tunes Set IX pp 6-7 London, Novello
A song with this title was published on broadsides. Lucy Broadwood and Percy Grainger noted it from the singing of Thomas Beadham in Lincolnshire. (click here to see the words.) His tune bore rather more resemblance to Wm. Hathaway’s than to Ch. Benfield’s. Elisa Carthy can be heard singing it on U Tube. Alfred Williams noted a set of words at Quenington.
Notes by Charles Menteith