Portland Fancy

Portland Fancy is a traditional jig in 6/8, played in A major with its later parts moving to D, circulating in three-part and four-part forms depending on the source. Its first two parts travel widely in Quebec and northern New England under other titles, notably Joseph Allard’s “Gigue des sucres,” which he recorded in G. Paul de Ville printed it in The Universal Favorite Contra Dance Album in 1905, and Ford gives it in Traditional Music in America (1940) at p. 77 with the dance alongside. The Plymouth, Vermont, Old Time Barn Dance Orchestra with fiddler Uncle John Wilder recorded it in 1926 on OKeh 45073, and Rodney Miller recorded it on New England Chestnuts (Alcazar Dance Series FR 203, 1980).Note: American Country Dances (1918) lists a dance named Portland Fancy, but it is set to other tunes.