Annotation:Lamplighter's Hornpipe (1)

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LAMPLIGHTER'S HORNPIPE [1]. AKA and see "Merry Soldier," "Reel à quatre (2)." American (originally), Canadian, Scottish; Hornpipe. USA; New York, Maine. A Major (most versions): G Major (Shaw). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Burchenal): AB (Bronner, Silberberg): AABB (most versions): AA'BB' (Kerr). This widespread melody is of unknown provenance, although perhaps American and at any rate is strongly associated with New England fiddling. It was first printed in Boston by Elias Howe in the mid-19th century, and, during the American Civil War in Bruce & Emmett's Drummers & Fifer's Guide (1862), a Union Army martial instructor. A version also is to be found as an untitled in the music manuscripts (vol. 3, p. 148) of County Cork cleric and uilleann piper Canon biography:James Goodman (1828-1896) from about the same period. Even earlier manuscript versions of the tune (with the title "Lamplighters") were entered into Elisha Belknap's (Framingham, Mass.) music copybook, dated 1784 although it may have been added around the year 1800, and in the Woburn, Massachusetts, fife manuscript collection inscribed with the name of Seth Johnson with entries from 1807 to around 1840. The title also appears in Daniel Henry Huntington's (Onondaga, NY) 1817 manuscript called "Preceptor for the Flute" (his copybook). It was cited as having commonly been played for country dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklife Quarterly), and Bronner (1987) says it is more popular with old-time fiddlers in New York State than the literature on tune collecting shows. He thinks its features suggest an 18th century British Isles derivation. Francis O'Neill printed a version of the tune under the title "Merry Soldier" in his Music of Ireland (1903), but it is likely he had the tune from Howe or Ryan (adding a change of title) as it is nearly identical. The first strain of "Lamplighter" is similar to the first strain of "Key West Hornpipe."

Burchenal (1918) uses the tune for two New England contra dances she prints alongside the melody, one set of figures called the Boston Fancy and the other the Lamplighter's Hornpipe. New England dance musician Newt Tolman and musician and caller Ralph Page, in the Country Dance Book also have a dance they call the Lamplighter's Hornpipe that is similar to the dance given as Lamplighter's Hornpipe in Elias Howe's Ball-Room Hand Book (1858, p. 85). Presumably, this is the same dance Howe later printed with the tune in his 1000 Jigs and Reels (c. 1867). Bronner (1987) indicates the tune was often an alternate for dances which call for "Durang's Hornpipe (1)," while Briggs suggests it for Jefferson and Liberty, an easy contra dance.

The tune was listed in the repertoire of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the mid-1920's). It was recorded in 1929 by Arthur J. Boulay under the title "Reel à quatre (2)," the name of the dance this reel accompanied. Boulay lived in New Hampshire until he was aged 30, where he took violin lessons and was a member of a dance band.

Source' for notated version': Les Weir, 1976 (New York State; learned from his father) [Bronner]; Ruthie Dornfeld, Ron West [Phillips]; Laurie Andres [Silberberg].

Printed sources: Bronner (Old-Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 28, p. 117. Bruce & Emmett’s Drummers & Fifers Guide, 1862. Burchenal (American Country Dances, vol. 1), 1918; p. 39 (appears as "Boston Fancy" [1]) and p. 49. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 93. Dunham (Mellie Dunham's Fiddlin' Dance Tunes), 1926; No. 17, p. 9. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; p. 85. Hopkins (American Veteran Fifer), 1905; No. 124. Howe (Musician's Omnibus No. 1), c. 1862; p. 47. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; p. 82. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes); No. or p. 28. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 2), c. 1880's; No. 342, p. 38. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddlers Repertoire), 1983; No. 108. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; p. 204 (two versions). Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 128. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 21, p. 9. Sandvik (Folke-Musik i Gudbrandsdalen), 1919 & 1948; p. 79. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; p. 389. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 86. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; p. 64. White's Unique Collection, 1896; No. 107, p. 19.

Recorded sources: Alcazar Dance Series FR 203, Rodney Miller - "New England Chestnuts" (1980). Fretless 132, "Ron West: Vermont Fiddler." MCA Records MCAD 4037, "The Very Best of Don Messer" (1994).

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]

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