Annotation:Lardner's Reel (1)
X: 1 T: Lardner's Reel [1] M: C| L: 1/8 B: NEFR #69 B: Ryan's "Mammoth Collection", 1883, p.44 #144 F: http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/LAR.htm N: The Fiddler's Companion notes that the first part of this tune is combined with the N: second parts of several other reels, and this is common in tunes of American origin. F:http://www.john-chambers.us/~jc/music/abc/Contra/NEFR/T/Lardners_Reel.abc K: A E2 \ | A2 Ac BA GB | Ac eg a2 ga | bg eg ag fe | dc BA GB EG | | A2 Ac BA GB | Ac eg a2 ga | bg eg ag ae | fd BG A2 :| |: E2 \ | E2 GE BE GB | A2 cA eA cA | B2 ^dB fB dB | e2 ge bg eg | | ag ae fa ec | de fg ag af | ea gf ed cB | cE GB A2 :|
LARDNER'S REEL [1]. AKA - "Rodner's Reel." AKA and see "King of all Reels." American, Reel. USA, southwestern Pa. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'B (irregular in the 'B' part). The tune was printed in blackface minstrel James Buckley's New Banjo Method (1860) under the title "King of all Reels." However, it was in circulation prior to that, as a close version (in both strains) can be found on page 2 of Book 1 of the music manuscript collection of Bellport, Long Island, ship-builder and musician Isaac Homan as the untitled 6th part (the 'Finale') of an likewise untitled set of cotillions (see "Cotillion Set 1 (Homan) Figure 6).
In his analysis of the tune, Bayard treated the two parts of this tune as separate and pointed out they are seldom found together. "While the first half of this tune occurs pretty frequently in our instrumental tradition, it seems to have no steadfast association with any one second strain." The second strain is shared with "Turnpike Reel (The)", whilst the first strain is shared with (or related to) "Leviathan Hornpipe" and "Prairie Hornpipe." The first strain can also be traced back to "Aldridge's Hornpipe (1)" named after the famous 18th century stage dancer, Richard Aldridge. See also the related "Big Indian Hornpipe" from the playing of northeast Kentucky fiddlers Jimmy Wheeler, Morris Allen and Buddy Thomas. Bath County, east Kentucky, fiddler George Hawkins (1904-1991) played the both parts of "Lardner's Reel" but knew it as "Rodner's Reel," a corrupted version of the title in Ryan's Mammoth (1883).
The title appears in a list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Irish variants include the hornpipe "Halfway House (The)" and "Turnpike Reel (The)."
