Forty Thieves is  found in the manuscript collection of John Old of Par. Perhaps the ultimate “jobbing musician”, John Old was a dancing master in the early 19^th Century who taught the families of the newly wealthy industrialists the finer country house arts of music and dance.[i] It contains a mixture of popular local dance tunes and well-known standards with a strong dash of music and dance that would later become part of Scottish Country Dance repertoire. “Forty Thieves” is an interesting example of a “jobbing tune” in John Old’s manuscripts. Here it is played as a jig for dancing, but it is related to a Cornish carol called “The First Good Joy That Mary Had” and also one of the tunes to which the rather more secular “Old Grey Duck” is sung.

[i] Mike O’Connor, No Song No Supper! the music of John Old, Dancing Master of Par (Wadebridge: Lyngham House Music, 2002)