Annotation:Nelson's Hornpipe (1)

Back to Nelson's Hornpipe (1)

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NELSON'S HORNPIPE [1]. English, Irish; Hornpipe. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The earliest appearance of the tune in print is in Church of Ireland cleric James Goodman's mid-19th century music manuscripts. Goodman (1828-1896) was an uilleann piper, and an Irish speaker who collected locally in County Cork and elsewhere in Munster. He also obtained tunes from manuscripts and printed collections. O'Neill (1922) remarks: "This tune is a variant of "Cloone Hornpipe (The)" pubished in O'Neill's Music of Ireland 1903, and O'Neill's Dance Music of Ireland 1907. It was obtained from Sergt. James Early who learned it from his tutor on the Union Pipes 'Old Man' Quinn. Like many other fine tunes it was anonymous, so it was named 'The Cloone Hornpipe' in honor of the famous piper's native town and parish in County Leitrim, Ireland. Its continued popularity is evidenced by its inclusion in a recent Irish Collection under the identical name invented for it by its sponsor, Sergt. James Early of Chicago."

In England the hornpipe was entered into the mid-19th century music manuscript collection of fiddler Lawrence Leadley (Yorkshire).

Sources for notated versions: a MS collection by fiddler Lawrence Leadley, 1827-1897 (Helperby, Yorkshire) [Merryweather & Seattle]; manuscripts in the possession of Chicago Police Sergeant James O'Neill, originally from County Down--many from the playing of his father [O'Neill].

Printed sources: O'Neill (Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody), 1922; No. 316. Shields/Goodman (Tunes of the Munster Pipers), 1998; No. 122, p. 50. Merryweather & Seattle (The Fiddler of Helperby), 1994; No. 41, p. 39.

Recorded sources:

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