"The Rummer" is an English country dance and jig in 6/4 or 6/8 time and F Major. The parts are played AABB. The melody first appears as a country dance in Playford's Dancing Master, 7th edition (1666) and in all subsequent editions of that volume through the 18th and last edition of 1728 (at which time the series was being published by John Young). The melody and dance directions were also published by rival London publisher John Walsh in his Compleat Country Dancing Master (editions of 1718, 1731, and 1754). A 'rummer' was a drinking glass. However, it is more likely that the tune was named for "The Rummer", a tavern at 45 Charing Cross, London that eventually became a restaurant called "The Ship", its direct descendant. John Timbs, in his Club Life of London, vol. II (London, 1866), records that The Rummer stood two doors down from another, more famous London eating house called Locket's or Lockitt's, and was situated midway between the Royal Palace and coffee houses and taverns of St. James's to the north, and the government offices and Parliament to the south. Nearby were the quarters of the Horse Guards (built by Charles II in the 1660's). The Rummer was kept until about 1702 by Samuel Prior and the clientele was a combination of army officers, Parliamentarians, aristocrats and merchants. A Masonic lodge also met there. In 1710 The Rummer removed to the water-side of Charing Cross and burnt down Nov. 7th, 1750. The tune was also printed in Barlow's The Complete Country Dance Tunes from Playford's Dancing Master (1986).