Annotation:Navvie on the Line
NAVVIE ON THE LINE. AKA - "Navvie (The)." AKA and see "Clog Hornpipe (1) (The)," "Evans Hornpipe," "London Hornpipe (1)." English, Scottish, Irish; Clog or Hornpipe. G Major (Kennedy, Kerr): A Major (Honeyman, Martin). Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Kerr): AABB (Kennedy, Honeyman, Martin). The first part is similar to the first parts of "New London," "London Hornpipe (1)" and "Blue Eyes Polka." The Bothy Band made a classic recording of this tune. The title probably refers to a 19th century laborer on a railway or canal excavation. See also the related American tune "Old Sow She Stole the Middlins (The)." The melody is attributed Tyneside fiddler and composer James Hill, in Köhler's Violin Repository (Edinburgh, 1881-1885).
Irish versions, somewhat distanced from British versions, can be found under the titles "Navvy on the Line," "Navvy on the Shore," "Pride of Cloontia (The)," and "Paddy Jim Frank's."
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; p. 45. Kennedy (Fiddler's Tune Book, vol. 1), 1951; No. 8, p. 4. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1875; No. 6, p. 42 (appears as "The Navvie"). Kerr (Caledonian Collection), p. 22. Laybourn (Köhler's Violin Repository, Book One), 1881, p. 48. Martin (Traditional Scottish Fiddling), 2002; p. 58.
Recorded sources: Nimbus NI5415, Martin O'Connor - "Across the Waters." Fife Strathspey and Reel Society - "The Fiddle Sounds of Fife" (1980).
See also listings at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recording Index [1]
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Alan Ng's Irishtune.info [3]