Doddington, Northumberland
The village and parish of Doddington are on the east side of the Milfield Plain, nearly 3 miles north of the town of Wooler, in the county of Northumberland, England. Notable buildings in Doddington include Doddington Hall and the Anglican church of St Mary and St Michael, which was built in the 18th century on the site of an original 12th-century place of worship. Wooler Golf Course is also near Doddington. History and cultural significance In 1734, the village was described in George Mark's Survey of a Portion of Northumberland as "remarkable for its largeness, the badness of its houses and low situation, and perhaps for the greatest quantities of geese of any in its neighbourhood". At about the same time, the tune Dorrington, also known as Dorrington Lads, was written down in the William Dixon manuscript. Having 14 strains, it is the most complex and elaborate of the pieces in that early source for Northumbrian music. The last tune played, on his deathbed, by the celebrated piper Will Allan, who died near Rothbury in 1779, was Dorrington Lads. A rhyme has survived, which fits the second strain of this tune: Dorrington lads is bonny and Dorrington lads is canny