Thursday 22 February 2018
Tune of the Day: Merrily Danced the Quaker
Traditional Scottish jig
The earliest known appearance of this melody in print is in Rutherford's Choice Collection of Sixty of the Most Celebrated Country Dances, which was published in London in 1750. However, the tune is probably much older; some sources even trace it back to 14th-century plain chant. Other sources think that “Merrily Danced” was either derived from “The Mill Oh”, or that both tunes share a common origin.
The melody was well-known in America at the time of the War for Independence, where it was employed as both a quick march and dance tune.