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WILLIAM LITTEN'S MS, 1802

Transcribed into ABC by Anne Wride for the Village Music Project, from Gale Huntington's transcription

Go to ABC file

Go to PDF of transcription


This collection of fiddle tunes was made by William Litten at sea on a vessel, or on two different vessels, of the British India fleet in the years 1800 to 1802. William Litten was a ship's fiddler, but it is not known of what nationality. The contents are typical British for the period.

The MS was taken to the island of Martha’s Vineyard by one of Litten’s shipmates, Allen Coffin.

The manuscript is now in the library of Martha's Vineyard Museum [http://www.mvmuseum.org/aboutus.php] in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard.

It was transcribed by E. Gale Huntington (1901-1993) a Vineyard fisherman, farmer, school teacher and historian, and published in booklet form in 1977 by Hines Point Publishers of Vineyard Haven. This has long been out of print.



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