Tarletons jigg

Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 4/4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16th century

Ian Pittaway broadside ballads, clowns, fools, Hamlet (William Shakespeare play), jesters, Shakespeare William, Tarleton Richard, Tarletons jigg, Tarletons Willy, Tarlton Richard, theatre, Willie and Peggie (ballad) 10 Comments

This is the last of four articles about the life and music of Elizabethan clown, Richard Tarleton. Having examined the historical context of clowning; described his comic and serious stage roles and plays; and gathered the evidence for his pipe and tabor style and modern claims that he was a ballad writer; this final article surveys the way Tarleton was remembered posthumously, on the stage, in song, in books, in rhetoric, and in the commercial use of his famous image.   

In particular, this article investigates a broadside tribute to Tarleton registered 23 days after his death, A pretie new ballad, intituled willie and peggie. This essay includes a video performance of the ballad, reuniting its words and music after 400 years.

Read more

Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 3/4: Richard Tarleton the musician and broadside writer

Ian Pittaway broadside ballads, clowns, Dowland John, fools, Grand Old Duke of York, jesters, Kemp William, Kempe William, Kemps Jigge, medley (ballad form), Nutmegs and Ginger, Spanish Pavin, Tarleton Richard, Tarletons jigg, Tarletons Medley, Tarletons Willy, Tarlton Richard, theatre, Willie and Peggie (ballad) 0 Comment

Elizabethan actor and comedian Richard Tarleton is remembered most for his quick-witted and clever quips, his physical comedy, and for the image of him playing pipe and tabor. Despite the fact that this famous representation shows him as a musician, Tarleton the musician has remained a neglected subject in both historical and modern accounts.

This article aims to put that right, with a description of Tarleton’s taboring; an investigation into the meaning of the surviving tune that bears his name, called both Tarletons jigg and Tarletons Willy; an understanding of his theatrical role as the creator of extempore comedy songs; and a survey of the evidence for Tarleton as a composer of ballads, particularly the comedic genre known as the medley.

This is the third of four articles about the life and music of Elizabethan clown, Richard Tarleton. The final article will examine posthumous tributes, including the performance of a 16th century ballad about him, its words and music newly reunited after 400 years. 

Read more