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Mus. 361

Manuscript. Treble partbook (violin?) apparently from a set of three, containing suites and other instrumental music, some of which may ultimately derive from the repertory of the royal violin band (or 'Twenty-four Violins') of Charles II. Various copyists; English, last quarter of the 17th century. Closely linked with Mus. 362 (q.v.).

Mus. 361 and Mus. 362 were apparently compiled by Oxfordshire musicians, including a violinist named George Stone 'of Yarnton'. Yarnton Manor, located about 8 km NW of central Oxford, was built c.1611 by Sir Thomas Spencer, and was inhabited by his descendants during the remainder of the 17th century. In Mus. 361-2, the following annotations relate to Stone, Yarnton and the Spencers:

'George Stone of yarnton' (Mus. 362, f. 37v, inverted); 'Stone his ffidling' and 'George ?Stone' (Mus. 362, inside upper cover); 'George ?Stone' (Mus. 362, annotation at top of f. 22r); 'George stone is a' (Mus. 362, annotation on f. 24r).
'Mr Spencer / of yarnton' (Mus. 361, rear flyleaf, recto, partly deleted); 'Wm Spencer Esquir' (Mus. 361, front flyleaf, recto, partly concealed under modern contents list); 'Sir thomas spencear' (Mus. 362, annotation at end of item 32); 'Spencer of marthe' (Mus. 361, rear flyleaf, recto).

Various titles of pieces or annotations in the partbooks hint at the circle of musicians that compiled them, and/or at their audience. They include the following, which are arranged alphabetically by last name:

'Maddam Bartons delight' and 'Madames Bartiones delight of Musike' (Mus. 362, title/annotation at end of item 34).
'Mr John Browne' (Mus. 361, annotation on inside lower cover).
'John Cox' (Mus. 361, annotation on rear flyleaf, recto).
'Mr Overberryes Hampsheire Hony' (Mus. 361, title/annotation at end of item 56).
'M[istr]is Martha Rogers' (Mus. 362, annotation on f. 28v, twice).
'Edward Smith' (Mus. 362, annotation on inside lower cover).
'Robert Win [or 'Min'?] his boock' (Mus. 362, annotation on f. 24r).

The copyist who was principally responsible for copying Mus. 361 also contributed to the first layer of Mus. 90-1. The two collections seem also to be linked repertorially, and the following composers' names are present in both: 'Mr Dowden', 'Mr Hall' and 'Mr Smith'.

Comments on individual pieces:

items 1-48 are copied at what is now designated as the front of the volume, items 49-56 at the rear with the volume inverted.
item 12: incomplete at the start owing to the loss of a leaf between ff. 6 and 7.

Table of titles and composers as shown in the manuscript. Display in modern form.

1		[Movement in d minor; possibly a draft]	(i)v
2	mr Banister	[Movement in d minor]	f. 1^r
3	mr Banister	[Movement in g minor] in Gamut [flat]	f. 1^v
4	mr Douden	[Two movements in d minor]	f. 2^r
5	mr Douden	[Three movements in d minor] in d souldre	ff. 2^v-3^v
6	mr Smith	[Movement in g minor]	f. 3^v
7	mr Banister	[Two movements in d minor] in d flat	f. 4^r
8	mr Douden	[Four movements in G major] in g sharp	ff. 4^v-5^r
9	mr Bouden	[Movement in g minor] in g flat	ff. 4^v-5^r
10		[Two movements in d minor]	ff. 6^v-r
11	mr John Banister	[Movement in d minor] in d souldre	f. 6^v
12	mr Banister	[Two movements in g minor, the first lacking its opening]	f. 7^r
13	Mr [Nicholas] Stagins	[Movement in C major]	f. 7^v
14	Mr [Nicholas] stagins	[Two movements in C major] in C natural	f. 8^r
15	Mr Banister	[Four-movement suite in g minor] g flat	ff. 8^v-9^r
16	mr Douden	[Two movements in D major] d sharp	ff. 9^v-10^r
17	Mr Tho Farmer	[Movement in g minor] in G flat	f. 10^r
18	Mr Banister	[Four-movement suite in a minor] in A natural	ff. 10^v-11^r
19	Mr Smyth	[Three-movement suite in C major] C natural	ff. 11^v-12^r
20	Mr Douden	[Two movements in d minor] in d flat	f. 12^v
21	Mr Douden	[Two movements in C major] in C natural	f. 13^r
22	Mr Douden	[Four-movement suite in F major] in F flat	ff. 13^v-14^r
23	mr Smyth	Capt digby's farewel in G flat	f. 14^v
24	Mr Douden	Scotch tune in A [major]	f. 14^v
25	mr Smyth	[Two movements in C major] in C natural	f. 14^v
26	Mr Banister	[Five-movement suite in a minor] in A natural	ff. 15^v-16^r
27	Mr Banister	[Three-movement suite in A major] in A rie sharp	ff. 16^v-17^r
28	Mr Dowdon	[Movement in A major] in A sharp	f. 17^r
29	Mr Douden	[Four] ayers in d sharp [= D major]	ff. 17^v-18^r
30	Mr Hall	Three-movement suite in g minor] in g flat	ff. 18^v-19^r
31	Mr Douden	[Two movements in D major] in d sharp	ff. 19^v-20^r
32	mr Ro[bert] Smith	[Movement in G major] in G sharp	f. 20^r
33	Mr Dowden	[Movement in g minor] in G flat	f. 20^v
34	Mr [Thomas] Farmer	Tune in G flat [= movement in g minor]	f. 21^r
35	Mr Hall	[Seven-movement suite in B flat major] in B flat	ff. 21^v-23^v
36	mr Smyth	Scotch [tune] in G [major]	f. 24^r
37	mr Smyth	[Movement in A major] in A re sharp	f. 24^r
38	Mr Dowdon	[Four-movement suite in g minor] in G flat	ff. 24^v-25^r
39	Mr Smyth	[Four-movement suite in C major] in C natural	ff. 25^v-26^r
40	Mr Smyth	[Two movements in G major] in G sharp	f. 26^v
41	Mr R[obert] Smyth	[Two movements in g minor] in G flat [the first copied twice]	ff. 27^r-28^r
42	Mr Banister	[Three-movement suite in g minor] in G flat	ff. 28^v-29^r
43	Mr Dowdon	[Five-movement suite in d minor] in d flat	ff. 29^v-30^v
44	Mr Dowdon	[Five-movement suite in d minor] in d soldre flat	ff. 31^v-32^v
45	Mr Smyth	[Two movements in a minor] A re	ff. 32^v-33^r
46	Mr Dowdon	[Four-movement suite in G major] in G sharp	ff. 33^v-34^r
47	Mr Banister	[Three-movement suite in a minor] In A rie Natural	ff. 34^v-35^r
48	Mr Dowdon	[Three movements in C major]	ff. 35^v-36^r
49		[Movement in g minor]	f. 48^r
50	Mr Douden	[Two movements in B flat major]	f. 47^v
51	Mr Douden	[Two movements in d minor]	f. 47^r
52	Mr Douden	[Movement in g minor] in G flat	f. 46^v
53	Mr Douden	[Three-movement suite in G major]	ff. 46^r-45^v
54	Mr Douden	[Three-movement suite in F major]	ff. 45^r-44^v
55	Mr Douden	[Movement in e minor]	f. 44^r
56		Mr Overberryes Hampsheire Hony C natural	f. 43^v

Oblong format, 197 x 100 mm. 47 surviving leaves, foliated '1-47' in modern pencil; the front flyleaf is foliated as 'i', and the rear flyleaf as '48'. Collation: 8 gatherings each of three nested bifolios (= A-H8), of which leaf B1 is excised (i.e. one leaf is missing between ff. 6 and 7). Unused ruled staves on ff. 31r and 36v-43r. Late 17th-century binding of brown leather over boards, blind-tooled with fillets; the edges are also blind-tooled with rolls. Inside covers and flyleaves heavily annotated with pen-trials; for the most significant of these jottings, see the comments at the top of this page. No early bookplate. 19th-century shelfmark concealed under a modern bookplate, but probably I.4.73.

Provenance: presumably from the Goodson bequest, on account of the links with Mus. 90-1, which is more securely of Goodson provenance. Not recorded in any of the 18th-century catalogues of the Christ Church music collections.

Microfilm: manuscript music, reel 11