Monday 16 September 2013
Tune of the Day: The Lass of Richmond Hill
English love song
This melody was composed by organist James Hook, and was first publicly performed in 1789. It was said to be a favorite of King George III and, at one time, was thought to have been written by his son, George IV. Associated with the English town of Richmond in North Yorkshire, it is now often mistakenly considered to be a traditional or folk song.
As well as becoming a Scottish country dance, the music has been used as a military march by the British army, and is the Regimental march of the Women’s Royal Army Corps and the Middlesex Yeomanry. “The Lass of Richmond Hill” is also used for a Morris Dance of the same name, in the Cotswold style, which involves leap-frogging.