Annotation:Leviathan Hornpipe (1)

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LEVIATHAN HORNPIPE. American, Hornpipe. G Major (Ryan/Cole): B Flat Major (Howe). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Al Smitley suggests the tune may possibly have been named for the clipper ship Leviathon, a name that is referenced in American Clipper Ships 1833-1858 by Howe and Matthews. However, in the mid-19th century it was an occasional fashion, particularly with blackface minstrel troupes, for creating titles and names (including themselves) in superlatives such as 'mammoth', 'mastadon' (c.f. The Original Mastodon Minstrels), 'leviathan' etc. The 'A' part resembles that of "Lardner's Reel (1)."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 112. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; p, 61. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 150.

Recorded sources:

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