PETRONELLA. a.k.a. “Patronella” is an MFC learning tune for 2025. Click this link for slow and fast recorded versions and sheet music. The tune is originally a Scottish dance tune, but shows up in American, Canadian, and English repertoires from as far back as the early 19^th century. The tune is a reel, in D major, normally played in standard tuning, AABB. The title derives from petronel, a type of pistol employed in the 16th and 17th centuries. The tune is Scottish in origin, published in Gow’s Repository, Part Fourth, 1817. The RSCDS Scottish Country Dance Book (Book 1) also says the tune comes from Nathaniel Gow’s Repository, although gives the date of publication as 1820. The accompanying dance is said (in The Ballroom, 1827) to have been introduced by Gow at his Annual Ball, in Edinburgh, that same year. It is linked with a country dance of the same name in Scotland and New England. The dance Petronella seems to have enjoyed remarkable popularity throughout the last three quarters of a century in Scotland, where “it appears in every ballroom guide published in Scotland from 1823 to 1914. Likewise it has proved a staple at New England contra dances over the last century. For example, it was danced in August, 1914, as part of a cotillion for the 150th anniversary celebration of the town of Lancaster, New Hampshire, according to a playbill of the period. The tune is similar to “Tink-a-Tink,” an English country dance air of the 18th century.

So let’s bring this all to the present. These old dance tunes from the 18^th, 19^th, and early 20th century were meant to be played for a dance of the same name. “Haste to the Wedding”, Hull’s Victory”, and “Petronella” are examples. Interestingly, the “main figure” in the dance Petronella (balancing in a ring of four and pivoting to the right) has been appropriated into the modern urban dance choreography. Modern dances include the “Petronella” figure with the dancers unaware of the origin. I guess that’s the way things evolve in the modern dance tradition! It’s all good, though.

These old dances are often referred to as “Chestnuts”, and NY dance caller and historian, David Smuckler, has published a piece for CDSS (Country Dance and Song Society) entitled “Cracking Chestnuts” where he examines 17 of these old dances. Here’s a short video of Petronella with the tune played by my good friend, fiddler George Wilson and accompanist Selma Kaplan.

Finally, here’s a video of MFC teachers Lissa Schneckenburger and Bethany Waickman playing the tune: 

Maine Fiddle Camp

Finally, You all here me talk a lot about Maine Fiddle Camp. I’m the assistant director at Camp. It’s a multi-generational trad music “outdoors” camp in central Maine with instruction in 13 or 14 instruments plus singing. The dates are

June Weekend: 6/13 – 6/15/25
June Week: 6/15 – 6/20/25
August Week 1: 8/3 – 8/8/25
August Week 2: 8/10 – 8/15/25

There are waiting lists now for all but the June week, but still plenty of room there. For more info go here: Maine Fiddle Camp