Monday 24 June 2013
Tune of the Day: The Mayor of Garratt
Traditional English tune
This 2/4-time country dance tune is unique to London publishers Charles and Samuel Thompson’s 1765 Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 2.
The Garrat Elections were a carnival of mock elections in 18th-century Surrey, England. The events were organized around May 20, when a crowd of tens of thousands would travel down from London to take part. The fame of the Garratt elections was spread by Samuel Foote's 1764 farce, which was titled The Mayor of Garret as well.