The Pearl of Brabant

Written for Mrs Frans Ligtmans of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Frans was our tutor when I took the Preliminary Test in 1997 -- as far as I recall, the only time that a Prelim examination was held in Germany --, and for several years after, the annual Eindhoven ball would serve as an informal reunion of the candidates in that class. Everyone would stay with Sjœrd and Francine van Leersum in their house in Heeze, near Eindhoven, where the town would greet visitors with a large sign saying THE PEARL OF BRABANT.

This tune actually came about some years later when Frans returned to teaching after a serious illness, and was proposed as the original tune for a dance, Back on Track, which Rik de Vroome had devised to mark that occasion. Rik eventually decided to use one of his own tunes but graciously included this tune with the dance in the Thistle Club Jubilee Book 1977–2002 as an alternative.

X:1
T:The Pearl of Brabant
C:Anselm Lingnau
%%copy: CC-BY-SA Lingnau, Anselm
R:Strathspey [Slow Air]
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:D
AG|"D"FDFA "F#m"f3e|"G"d2cB "D"A2GF|"G"G>BeG "D"F>AdF|"Em"EGBe "A7"d2c2|
   "D"F>DFA "F#m"fedc|"G"d2cB "D"A>BAF|"Em"EGBe "A7"d2c2|"D"d6||
cd|"A"eAce a3g|"D"g2fe dfga|"G"bdcb "D"afed|"Em"B2gB "A"f2e2|
   "D"FDFA "F#m"f>edc|"G"d2b2 "D"a>fed|"Em"BGed "A7"d2c2|"D"d6|]

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