"Old Mother Oxford" also known as "Molly Oxford", "Old Molly Oxford" or
"Steeple Claydon" is an English Morris Dance Tune (4/4 time) in D Major or G Major.
It was collected from the villages of Field Town (Cecil Sharp's name for the
village of Leafield, Oxfordshire), Ilmington, Warwickshire and Headington,
Oxfordshire, in England's Cotswolds.
It was printed in Karpeles & Schofield's A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs (1951), Bacon's A Handbook of Morris Dances (1974), Williamson's English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes (1976) and Raven's English Country Dance Tunes (1984). The “Old Molly Oxford” recorded on banjo by Adam Hurt is included here as "Step Back". This version is the one I learned from Williamson's book. |