Polo March, The

Kind of Tune
set tune

Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald recorded Polo March in the 1950s, in a medley following a tune that he called Southern Melody. This tandem was quickly adopted by Island fiddlers, and as of 2006 it was still quite frequently played: particularly in the eastern half of the Island.

Fitzgerald is said to have learned the tune from one of the Good Morning collections that was disseminated by Henry Ford beginning in the 1920s as part of the latter's campaign to revive fiddling and square dancing in the US (the full title of the work is Good Morning: Music, Calls, and Directions for Old-time Dancing as revived by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford).

Notation for this tune as played by Reuben Smith is in Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island.

Tune Selections

Southern Melody / Polo March Musician: Attwood O'Connor, Recordist: Ken Perlman Accompanied by: Stanley Bruce, gtr South Kings info
Southern Melody / Polo March Musician: Dave Thomson, Recordist: Ken Perlman Unaccompanied Western Queens info
Southern Melody / Polo March Musician: Reuben Smith, Recordist: Ken Perlman Accompanied by: Kaye MacEachern, pno; Ron Myers, gtr; Theresa Smith, gtr Western Queens info
Southern Melody / Polo March Musician: Carl Webster, Musician: Jackie Webster, Recordist: Ken Perlman Accompanied by: John Webster, gtr Central Kings info