In honor of the upcoming Independence Day celebrations, this month’s tab is an arrangement of the fiddle tune “Liberty”. Like many things considered to be “classic American”, the tune actually migrated to the United States from other countries. Its origins can be traced back to the early 1800s and a popular French Canadian dance tune titled “Reel de Ti’ Jean.” It subsequently traveled across the Atlantic to Europe, and then settled in the British Isles using a derivative of the original title, “Little John’s Reel.” Another popular variation of the tune became known as “The Tipsy Parson”.

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This month’s tab is an arrangement of the traditional English country dance tune “Portsmouth”. First published in the 11th edition of John Playford’s “The English Dancing Master” in 1701, its name is in honor of the town of Portsmouth situated on the southern coast of England along the English Channel. Over 350 dances were published in the combined editions of Playford’s books, each of which included detailed instructions for each dance's steps, along with the melody line of the tune to be used for that particular dance.

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In honor of the upcoming Memorial Day observances, this month’s tab is an arrangement of the hymn  “Only Remembered”. The original lyrics were penned by a Scottish pastor named Horatius (Horace) Bonar as a poem entitled "The Everlasting Memorial", which was included in his book entitled "Hymns of Faith and Hope" in 1860. Bonar is credited with writing the words to nearly 150 other hymns during his lifetime, including “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” and “O Love of God How Strong and True”.

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