Annotation:Navvie on the Line

Back to Navvie on the Line

---

NAVVIE ON THE LINE. AKA - "Navvie (The)." AKA and see "Clog Hornpipe (1)," "Evans," "London Hornpipe (1)." English, Scottish; Clog or Hornpipe. G Major (Kennedy, Kerr): A Major (Honeyman, Martin). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Kerr): AABB (Kennedy, Honeyman, Martin). The first part is similar to the first parts of "New London," "London Hornpipe (1)" and "Blue Eyes Polka." The title probably refers to a 19th century laborer on a railway or canal excavation. The melody is attributed Tyneside fiddler and composer biography:James Hill, in Köhler's Violin Repository (Edinburgh, 1881-1885). Scottish publisher James S. Kerr printed the tune as "Evans," and a version can be found in Canadian repertory as "Reel de Montreal."

See also the related American tune "Old Sow She Stole the Middlins (The)." See "Navvy on the Line" for the unrelated Irish reel as recorded by the Bothy Band, although the title was a mistake for "Navvy on the Shore (1)."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; p. 45. Kennedy (Fiddler's Tune Book, vol. 1), 1951; No. 8, p. 4. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1875; No. 6, p. 42 (appears as "The Navvie"). Kerr (Caledonian Collection), p. 22. Laybourn (Köhler's Violin Repository, Book One), 1881, p. 48. Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002; p. 58.

Recorded sources: Nimbus NI5415, Martin O'Connor - "Across the Waters." Fife Strathspey and Reel Society - "The Fiddle Sounds of Fife" (1980). Topic Records, Joe Hutton - "Bonny North Tyne - Northumbrian Country Music" (various artists).

See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear/see the tune played on melodeon on youtube.com [3]

---