Annotation:Wonder Hornpipe (The)
X:1 T:Wonder Hornpipe M:C L:1/8 R:Hornpipe S:Kerr - Merry Melodies vol. 1 (c. 1880, No. 29, p. 46) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Bb (3FGA|:B>fd>B A>ec>A|B>cd>B F2 BA|G>Bc>d e>dc>B|A>cf>=e g>f_e>c| B>fd>B A>ec>A|B>cd>B F2 BA|G>gf>e d>cB>A|c2B2B2:| |:c>B|A>cf>=e f>dc>B|A>cf>=e f>ag>f|=e>fg>a b>ge>g|f>=ef>g f2 _e2| d>ed>c B>d g2|c>dc>B A>c f2|g>ba>g f>ed>c|B2d2B2:|
WONDER HORNPIPE, THE. AKA and see “Coey's Hornpipe,” "George Ross' Hornpipes," "London Clog (2)," "Miss Ferry's Hornpipe," "Princess Hornpipe," “The Southern Shore,” “Tammany Ring, "Thames (The).” English, Scottish, Irish, Canadian; Hornpipe (whole time). G Major (Kennedy, Raven): B Flat Major (Honeyman, Kerr, Miller). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Honeyman, Kennedy, Miller, Raven): AA'BB (Kerr). “The Wonder” is sometimes attributed to James Hill (c. 1811-1853) of Newcastle, Northumberland, born in Scotland but active from the 1830s to 1850s in Gateshead and Newcastle, Northumberland, England. Hill, a sometime publican and popular tavern fiddler, is still famous especially for his hornpipes (“High Level Hornpipe (1),” “Beeswing,” “Hawk (The),” etc.), and was wont to name tunes after racehorses and pubs. He is sometimes called the ‘Paganini of the hornpipe’. Honeyman prints three versions, one each in his three hornpipe playing styles: Sand Dance, Newcastle, and Sailor's. The first four bars of the second strain of "Black's Hornpipe (1)" are reminiscent of this tune. Irish versions can be found in O’Neill under the titles “Coey's Hornpipe” and “The Southern Shore,” and an American one in Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883) as “Tammany Ring.”
Philippe Varlet finds that the tune was recorded on a 78 RPM record by champion accordion player George Ross in the mid-1950’s. Ross, born 1916, was from County Wexford and was a member of Mayglass Ceili Band. "The Wonder Hornpipe" was recorded by the group De Dannan as "George Ross' Hornpipes" ("New Century (2) (The)" is the other tune in the Ross medley). A version was also recorded on 78RPM in 1928 by County Galway flute player Tom Morrison as "London Clog (2)."