Annotation:Champion Hornpipe (1) (The)
X: 1 T: The Champion [1] M: 4/4 Q: 300 L: 1/8 R: hornpipe Z: Transcribed by Bill Black [www.capeirish.com/webabc] K: Bb de | f=efg f_edc | BABc dBFD | EGce DFBd | (3cdc (3BAG F2 de | f=efg f_edc | BABc dBFD | EGce dcBA | B2 d2 B2 :| AB | cf=ef afef | dg^fg bgfg | dbca BgAf | Gg^fg =f2 AB | cf=ef afef | dg^fg bgfg | dbca BgAf | feca b2 :||
CHAMPION HORNPIPE [1]. AKA and see "Mike Leonard's Hornpipe," "Moonlight in Athlone." American, Hornpipe. USA; Nebraska, Missouri. B Flat Major ('A' part) & F Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Champion Hornpipe [1]" was a 19th century hornpipe, widely disseminated with variants under a number of titles. The earliest versions date to the mid-19th century in England where it can be found as "Slater's Hornpipe." American versions include "Old Tanzy Hornpipe" and "Olympic Hornpipe (2)," and early 20th century Irish musicians recorded it as "Mike Leonard's Hornpipe" and "Moonlight in Athlone." Perhaps the earliest recording is from 1905 by violinist Charles D'Almaine, born in 1871 in England, who died in 1943. D'Almaine immigrated to the United States in 1888 and by 1890 had established himself as "instructor on violin" in Evanston, Illinois; by 1910 he had removed to Yonkers, and in 1920 was a chiropractor in New York City (Paul Gifford). William Bradbury Ryan (1883) credited his source for the tune as "J. Hand", one of two musicians, John and Jimmy Hand, about whom little is known. They were perhaps brothers or father-and-son, and may have been band-leaders or stage performers in the area around Boston, Mass.
The tune appears as the second in a series of hornpipes set in a medley and recorded first by Charles D'Almaine in 1904, with the same medley recorded again in 1920 by violinist Percy Scott. The medley was transcribed in J.A. Boucher's rare 1933 printed collection Le Repertoire du Violoneux."
