Not long to Halloween, so some grisly old stuff. This is a Scottish copy of an English tune, Grim King of the Ghosts, from 1682. It was very popular a bit before 1700, with dozens of songs set to it, some of them surprisingly cheerful. By the time this was written down, in 1796, nobody remembered the cheerful ones.
The Headless Body is taken from Frances Tolmie's book 105 Songs of Occupation from the Western Isles of Scotland. Tolmie explains that it was about a headless female giant who rampaged around the countryside tearing her victims into pieces with her bare hands. She (the giant, not Tolmie) was a form of the Morrigan, the Celtic goddess of death. This transcription is dedicated to Sarah Palin.
ABCs:
X:0
T:Shaking with horror and fear at the Grumbling of the Ghosts
N:subtitled "Which is terrible"
S:NLS Acc.12304(A), notebook of James Robertson, 1796, p72
Z:Jack Campin, http://www.campin.me.uk
F:http://octunes.blogspot.com
M:3/4
L:1/4
Q:1/4=100
K:GDor
D |G^FG| BA G |({B}A2) D |BAd| B>AG| G2:|
B/c/ |d dG|(_ed) c/B/| c2 d/c/|BAB| Gc B|({B}A2)
D/>D/|G^FG| BA G |({B}A2) D |BAd|TB>AG| G2:|
X:0
T:The Headless Body
Z:Jack Campin, http://www.campin.me.uk
F:http://octunes.blogspot.com
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=100
K:EDor
EFF d3|F2F FED|EFF d3 |FED E2E |
EFF d3|F2F FED|EEE FED|EED E2E||
({F}A2)d B3|A2A FED|A2d B3 |AGF E2D |
({D}A2)d B3|A2A FED|EEE FED|E2E DEF|]
T:Shaking with horror and fear at the Grumbling of the Ghosts
N:subtitled "Which is terrible"
S:NLS Acc.12304(A), notebook of James Robertson, 1796, p72
Z:Jack Campin, http://www.campin.me.uk
F:http://octunes.blogspot.com
M:3/4
L:1/4
Q:1/4=100
K:GDor
D |G^FG| BA G |({B}A2) D |BAd| B>AG| G2:|
B/c/ |d dG|(_ed) c/B/| c2 d/c/|BAB| Gc B|({B}A2)
D/>D/|G^FG| BA G |({B}A2) D |BAd|TB>AG| G2:|
X:0
T:The Headless Body
Z:Jack Campin, http://www.campin.me.uk
F:http://octunes.blogspot.com
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=100
K:EDor
EFF d3|F2F FED|EFF d3 |FED E2E |
EFF d3|F2F FED|EEE FED|EED E2E||
({F}A2)d B3|A2A FED|A2d B3 |AGF E2D |
({D}A2)d B3|A2A FED|EEE FED|E2E DEF|]
