Annotation:Durham Rangers

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DURHAM RANGERS. AKA and see "Comhra Donn (An)," "Duran Ranger," "Sherwood Rangers," "Lord Middleton's Hornpipe," "Merry Sherwood Rangers," "Ranger's Hornpipe (1)." Scottish, English; Schottische, Reel or Hornpipe. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (most versions): AA'BBCCDDAA'BB (Dixon). 'The Durham Rangers' was a nickname for the Durham Fencible Cavalry, raised in 1794 and composed of volunteers under regular officers. As fencibles--for home defense--they could not be sent out of the country, but they could be sent to Ireland, where they were posted in June, 1798 (after having served some years in Scotland). This was just in time for the Irish rebellion of that year, and the 250 man strong Durham fencible unit (which had changed its name Princess of Wales's Fencible Cavalry) operated against the Irish rebels on the River Boyne. It was disbanded at Clonmel in September, 1800.

The melody is in the "Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (1)" tune family (see Annotation:Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine (1) for more). The first appearance of the tune in print appears to be in Kerr's Merry Melodies, vol. 1 (c. 1880) albeit under the title "The Sherwood Rangers". Manuscript versions predate the Kerr's printing, however, and it can be found in north east English musicians' manuscripts under the titles "Ranger's Hornpipe (1)" (Calvert, 1812) and "Durham Rangers" (J. Moore, 1841). Frank Kidson included "Durham Ranger" in his late 19th century collection of manuscript tunes, and it can be found in a manuscript music book of The Durham Light Infantry (68th and 106th) that contains regimental march music, dating from around 1908 [Durham Light Infantry Records, Durham County Record Office]. George Emmerson writes that the "Durham Rangers" title does not appear in print until after it was collected by Ian Jamieson of Galashiels in the 1930's as a dance and tune (in his Border Book of Country Dances), but clearly this is in error. Dixon (1995) prints the melody with variation sets by Robert Whinham (1814-1893), a musician, teacher, composer, dancing master and fiddler originally from Morpeth, Northumberland.

The melody is played in County Donegal, Ireland, where some versions are rendered in the form of a 'German' (i.e. schottische), while other Irish versions are to be found in the "Comhra Donn (An)" family of tunes.

The name "Durham Ranger" is shared with a salmon fishing fly, also called a 'durham ranger' or 'duran ranger' (a corruption of 'durham'), which also has some antiquity, that pattern being either the creation of a Mr. Walton Scruton of Durham, England around 1840, or Mr. William Henderson, from the northern English town of Durham. Mr. Scruton was a founding member of the Sprouston Angling Club organized in 1845 near Kelso, Scotland, where they took advantage of the waters of the nearby River Tweed for their recreation. Originally the fly, an imitation of a butterfly, was tied with various pheasant feathers, floss and gold ribbing, and it proved an effective and popular formula. By the end of the 19th century various other materials were added or substituted, some quite exotic, including jungle cock, Indian crow, blue and yellow macaw, ostrich and dyed seal's fur (mirroring, perhaps the reach and extent of the British Colonial empire). The basic pattern survives today, albeit without recourse to endangered species.

The name Durham has an interesting history, as described by C.M. Matthews (1972):

(It) is late in origin, being first mentioned in the account of how Bishop Aldhun and his monks were guided by a dream to this hitherto unoccupied site in the year 995, and built on it the first little church as a shrine for St. Cuthbert's remains. This was written about the year 1000. The name was then Dunholm, consisting apparently of the English dun, a hill, to which the Danish word holmr, used generally for a flat-topped island, was added; the rocky eminence is almost surrounded by the river Wear. The normal development of this would have been to a sound like Dunnam, possibly spelt Dunham, but the place became pre-eminently a stronghold of the Normans and under their influence the 'n' changed to 'r'. The final result is a strong, simple sound that has the advantage of being unique in England.

Malcolm II was defeated at Durham by Uhtred of Northumbria in 1006, and in 1040 Duncan I besieged the town with many losses. The castle became the abode of a succession of prince-bishops of Durham from 1072. In the western suburbs is Nevill's Cross, where David II was defeated and captured by the English in 1346.

Source for notated version: Tom Carruther's 20th century manuscript, in the Beamish Museum [Dixon].

Printed sources: Dixon (Remember Me), 1995; p. 61. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), vol. 1, 1951; No. 21, p. 11. Köhlers’ Violin Repository, Book 1, 1881-1885; p. 45. Lerwick (Kilted Fiddler), 1985; p. 10. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; p. 164.

Recorded sources:

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