"Petronella", also known as "Patronella" is a Scottish (originally), American, Canadian, Irish and English reel and Scottish country dance tune in D Major (Brody, Kennedy, Kerr, Lerwick, Martin, Messer, Miller & Perron, Raven, Silberberg, Sweet), G Major (Linscott, Milne) or F Major (Athole, Emmerson, Gow, Hunter, Lees, Manson). The parts are played AAB (Milne) or AABB (most versions). A version of this tune appears as the first two parts of "Gallopede" which appears in the Contras section. The title derives from the name "petronel", a type of pistol employed in the 16th and 17th centuries. The petronel was known as a horse-man’s weapon from which both the pistol and carbine developed. The name itself is a variant of the French word petrinel or poitrinal, given because the weapon was fired with the butt resting against the chest (poitrine, from the Latin pectus) or because it was carried slung from a belt across the chest. The tune is linked with a country dance of the same name in Scotland and New England. The dance seems to have enjoyed popularity throughout the last three quarters of a century in Scotland. The set dance features a point where everyone stamps at once, perhaps in imitation of the weapon of the title. A standard set of tunes is often used as the vehicle for the dance in Scotland, consisting of "The Dashing White Sergeant", "My Love is but a Lassie Yet" and "The Rose Tree", although many tunes may be substituted. "Petronella" has proved a staple at New England contra dances over the last century, probably from Scottish sources. It was printed in Brody's Fiddler's Fakebook (1983) and Banjo Picker's Fakebook (1985), Emmerson's Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String (1971), Galwey's Old Irish Croonauns (1910), Gow's Complete Repository, Part 4 (1817), Hunter's The Fiddle Music of Scotland (1988), S. Johnson's Kitchen Musician No. 4: Fine Tunes (1988) (revised 1991, 2001), Kennedy's Fiddler's Tune-Book, vol. 1 (1951), Kerr's Merry Melodies, vol. 1 (c. 1880’s), Laybourn's Köhler's Violin Repository, vol. 1 (1881), J. Kenyon Lees's Balmoral Reel Book (1910's), Lerwick's Kilted Fiddler (1985), Linscott's Folk Songs of Old New England (1939), Manson's Hamilton's Universal Tune Book, vol. 1 (1854), Martin's Traditional Scottish Fiddling (2002), Messer's Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes (1980) (appears as "Patronella"), Miller & Perron's New England Fiddler's Repertoire (1983), Milne's Middleton’s Selection of Strathspeys, Reels &c. for the Violin (1870), Perlman's Melodic Clawhammer Banjo (1979), Phillips' Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1 (1994), Pickow's Hammered Dulcimer (1979), Raven's English Country Dance Tunes (1984), The Robbins collection of 200 jigs, reels and country dances (1933), Silberberg's Fiddle Tunes I Learned at the Tractor Tavern (2002), Spadaro's 10 Cents a Dance (1980), Stewart-Robertson's The Athole Collection (1884), Sweet's Fifer's Delight (1964/1981), Welling's Welling's Hartford Tunebook (1976), Williamson's English, Welsh, Scottish & Irish Fiddle Tunes (1976). It was recorded by Rodney Miller on New England Chestnuts 2 (1981), Dudley Laufman on Swinging on a Gate (1974), John McCutcheon on How Can I Keep from Singing? (1975). I don't usually play this tune on the banjo so the banjo tab for this tune is from Ken Perlman's Melodic Clawhammer Banjo (1979) until I work up my own.