Annotation:Fireman's Reel (1)
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FIREMAN'S REEL. AKA and see "Buttermilk and Cider," "Going to California," "Off to California (1)," "Old Towser," "Whiskey You're the Devil," "Whiskey in the Jar," "Belle of the Kitchen (2)," "Silver Cluster (The)," "You Bet," "Portsmouth Hornpipe," "Miss Johnson's Hornpipe," "Gypsy Hornpipe (4)," "Possum Up a Gum Stump(, Coonie in the Hollow) [1]," "Lexington." New England, Reel. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Many of the alternate titles are floaters. Recombined with different 'B' parts these tunes are also similar (in the 'A' part): "I'm Waiting For You," "Five Miles Out of Town," "Silver Cluster." In New Hampshire the tune has long had a regional association with the dance Lady Walpole's Reel.
Source for notated version: Ron West (Vt.) [Phillips].
Printed sources:
Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 86 (appears as "Portsmouth Hornpipe").
Miller & Perron (New England Fiddler's Repertoire), 1983; No. 81.
Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 85.
Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 170 (as "Portsmouth Hornpipe").
Recorded sources:
Fretless Records 132, "Ron West: Vermont Fiddler."
Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40126, Rodney Miller – "Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire" (1999).
See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Don Messer's recording at Ted McGraw's site [2] (followed by "White Water Jig").