This is just one of the happiest melodies and I must say it ranks right up there with Stairway To Heaven as one of my all time favorite tunes...
I love playing this on the fiddle, it's just a great, fun, whimsical melody...
And what exactly are the Flowers of Edinburgh? Well, I've heard various curious stories, and the oddest one dates back to the medieval era, and long before the days of proper sewers and well. They say you really had to watch your step as you walked so as not to step in a "flower" Alas, if you walked down High Street and heard the words Gardy-Loo ya better take cover, or at least hope you have an umbrella handy or you may not have such a great day... In one story I heard, people would often shout out the words Gardy-Loo just before emptying their chamber pot into the street.
Now what does this have to do with this tune?
Well, absolutely nothing!
Of course there is a dance to this tune, and I think it starts out as follows:
Four couples line up face to face
The opening chord strikes and the couples bow/curtsey....
The woman casts off two places down past the third couple...
The man follows in chase and the woman heads back to the top of the line while
dancing behind the men's line
At the same time her partner dances up the the middle of the line until both
end up back in first position but in opposite sides of the dances.
Next they sett and the man casts and the woman chases, both again go down past the third couple and dance up to their original places.
Next they take hands and dance down the middle and then when they get back to the top and then I believe they follow up with an Almande which helps the top to couples switch places, and from the second position in line they repeat until they wind up in fourth position... I'll update if I memorized that wrong as it's been a few weeks since my last dance class... (to shame).
So in the meantime:
Enjoy! ;)
Oh, here's the MIDI file...