Annotation:Liverpool Hornpipe (1)

Back to Liverpool Hornpipe (1)

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LIVERPOOL HORNPIPE [1], THE (Crannciuil Liberpuil). AKA and see "London Hornpipe (5)," "Louisville Hornpipe," "Brilliancy" (Christeson), "Processional Morris (1)" (Mellor), "Grove (1) (The)." English, Scottish, Irish, Canadian, American; Hornpipe. USA; Maine, New York, southwestern Pa., Texas, Arkansas, Missouri. Ireland; Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border. England; Shropshire, Lincolnshire. Canada; Cape Breton. D Major (most versions): G Major (Lees). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Hardie): AABB (most versions): AA'BB' (Moylan): AABBCC (O'Neill/1915, 1001 & 1850). The Irish musicologist Father Henebry criticized this piece for its "purposeless vapidity," although it has been printed endlessly in collections since the mid-19th century and has been quite popular with fiddlers and fifers. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh also says it is generally considered a fiddler's tune in Ireland and points to the many versions recorded by both Sligo and Donegal masters. The title appears in a list of tunes in his repertoire brought by Philip Goodman, the last professional and traditional piper in Farney, Louth, to the Feis Ceoil in Belfast in 1898 (Breathnach, 1997). A minor-key variant collected in Wales appears as "Processional Morris (1)." The earliest version I have yet to find is in the 1823-26 music manuscript collection of Joshua Gibbons, a papermaker and musician from the village of Tealby, near Market Rasen, in the Lincolnshire Wolds, where it appears under the title "London Hornpipe (5)." Scottish dancers perform a step-dance to the melody, also called the Liverpool Hornpipe. In America the piece was cited as having been commonly played at Orange County, New York, country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly). The title also appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954, and in a list of the repertoire of elderly Maine musician Mellie Dunham, Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the mid-1920's. For more on this tune in the Missouri tradition (in which it was popular) see note for "Annotation:Thunder Hornpipe." See also the south west Pennsylvania collected "Tiddle Took Tidfish," whose first part is a variant of "Liverpool Hornpipe's" second part.

Sources for notated versions: Wilbur Neal (elderly fiddler from Jefferson County, Pa., 1948) and Hogg (Pa., 1948) [Bayard]; Jake Hockemeyer (Mokane, Missouri) via Charlie Walden (Columbia, Missouri) [Christeson]; Hamilton County, New York fiddler Vic Kibler learned the tune from Harding's Collection [Bohrer]; Bill Hardie (Scotland) [Hardie]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson [Phillips]; accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region, Kerry), recorded at a recital at Na Píobairí Uilleann, February, 1981 [Moylan]; a tape of set-dance music recorded live at Na Píobairí Uilleann in the 1980's [Taylor].

Printed sources: Alexander (Alexander’s Fifty New Scotch & Irish Reels & Hornpipes), c. 1826; No. 26, p. 13. American Veteran Fifer, 1905; No. 54. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 20, p. 4. Bain (50 Fiddle Solos), 1989; p. 26. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 280A-B, p. 234. Bohrer (Vic Kibler), 1992; No. 31, p. 31. Christeson (Old Time Fiddler's Repertory, vol. 2), 1984; No. 76, p. 51. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 89. Craig (The Empire Collection of Hornpipes), c. 1890's; p. 2. DeVille, 1905; No. 12. Hardie (Caledonian Companion), 1992; p. 34. Harding Collection (1915) and Harding Original Collection (1928), No. 35. Honeyman (Tutor), 1898; p. 44. Howe (Diamond School for the Violin), 1861; p. 43. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes), 1951; No. or p. 23. Jigs and Reels, vol. 1, 1908; p. 31. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), vol. 1, 1951; No. 11, p. 6. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1880; No. 5, p. 42. J. Kenyon Lees (Balmoral Reel Book), 1910; p. 32. MacDermott (Allan's Irish Fiddler), c. 1920's, No. 87, p. 22. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 172. Moylan (Johnny O'Leary of Sliabh Luachra), 1994; No. 29, p. 18. O'Malley, 1919; p. 18. O'Neill (O'Neill's Irish Music), 1915; No. 333, p. 164. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; p. 166. O'Neill (Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies), 1903; No. 1565. O'Neill (Dance Music of Ireland: 1001 Gems), 1907; No. 816, p. 141. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2), 1995; p. 205. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 173. Robbins, 1933; No. 79. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 123. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 297. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Yellow Book), 1995; p. 38. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two), 1999; p. 12. White's Unique Collection, 1896; No. 127, p. 23.

Recorded sources: Columbia A1977 (78 RPM) (78 RPM), John J. Kimmel (1915). IRC Records, Michael Coleman - "The Musical Glory of Old Sligo" (1967). Voyager 309, Benny & Jerry Thomasson - "The Weiser Reunion" (1993). Fife Strathspey and Reel Society - "The Fiddle Sounds of Fife" (1980). Rounder CD 1087, Peter Guinan - "From Galway to Dublin" (1992. Reissue of 1937 original). Shanachie 79093, Paddy Glackin and Robbie Hannon - "Whirlwind" (1995. Learned from piper Séamus Ennis).

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [2]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [3]
Hear Donegal fiddler John Doherty's recording of the tune at the Comhaltas Archive [4]
Hear fiddler Packie Dolan's recording at the Comhaltas Archive [5]
Hear a ceili band version by Joe & George Derrane and Jerry O'Brien at the Comhaltas Archive [6]
Hear fiddler Patrick Kelly's version at the Comhaltas Archive [7]

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