Knives And Forks: A Song History

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"Knives and Forks" is a country dance tune in 3/2 time, and the Traditional Tune Archive notes that it is sometimes classed as a Lancashire hornpipe or Cheshire round, names that tie this kind of 3/2 tune to northern England.[1] Under the spelling "Knives & Forkes" it was printed in A Choice Collection of Country Dances, issued in Dublin by John and William Neal around 1726.[2][1] The title does not appear in Robert Keller's index of the London Dancing Master volumes of 1651 to 1728, but the Tune Archive connects the melody with a dance called "The Merry Hop."[3][1] That dance, a longways set for as many as will, appears in the third (1718) and fourth (1728) editions of the second Dancing Master volume edited by John Young, and as "Merry Hop" in Walsh's Second Book of the Compleat Country Dancing Master of 1719.[4][2]

An ornate gold fork, knife and spoon standing side by side on a dark background

Knife, Fork, and Spoon, gold, about 1725. Tableware from the years the tune was printed in Dublin, shown for its title; it has no connection to the tune.

Modern English country dance collections keep the old spelling "Forkes": Legacy, 50 Years of Dance and Song (2002), edited by Allison Thompson, and Graham Christian's The Playford Assembly both list it as "Knives and Forkes."[2] Bare Necessities recorded the tune on its 1991 album Take a Dance.[1] Mark Gilston includes it among his dulcimer arrangements in English Country Dance Tunes, Volume 2, published by Gilston and sold as a zipped PDF download meant for printing or for reading on a tablet or computer.[5]

Our book that contains the song "Knives And Forks"

Sources

  1. The Traditional Tune Archive: "Knives and Forks".
  2. Library of Dance: "Dance Manuals" (entries for Neal, c. 1726; Walsh, 1719; Young, 1718 and 1728; Thompson, 2002; Christian).
  3. Country Dance and Song Society: "The Dancing Master, 1651–1728: A Compendium – Index K" (Robert M. Keller).
  4. Country Dance and Song Society: "The Dancing Master, 1651–1728: Merry Hop, The" (Robert M. Keller).
  5. Mark Gilston: "English Country Dance Tunes, Volume 2".
  6. Image: Knife, Fork, and Spoon, gold, about 1725. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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