The title of this tune may derives from the name "petronel", a type of pistol from the 16th and 17th centuries. It was first published in Nathaniel Gow's Complete Repository Part IV from about 1817 and was used for a set dance that features a point where everyone stamps at once, perhaps to imitate firing of the pistol in the title.
Canterbury New Hampshire caller and musician Dudley Laufman has been credited with finding and disseminating this tune. It is often played together with Petronella, typically as the second tune and returning to Petronella one time to signal that the dance is ending.
