Double Lead Through

Originally a French tune, written by Charles Lecoq and included in his three act opéra-comique 'La fille de Madame Angot' which was first produced in Brussels at the Théâtre des Fantaisies-Parisiennes on the 4 December 1872. The piece caused a sensation in Britain where it ran for a consecutive five-hundred nights and then appeared in London in a various forms as well as being extensively toured. Made famous more recently in England from the version which Cecil Sharp collected from William Kimber at Headington Quarry. It is still a great favourite with the French, and is still, apparently, played almost continuously in the Asterix theme park, south of Paris. (Hugh Rippon)