Annotation:Bielbie's Hornpipe

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BIELBIE'S HORNPIPE. AKA and see "Curlew Hills Polka (The)." English, Hornpipe. From the playing of Borders musicians Willie Taylor and Joe Hutton. The tune is a member of a large tune family that, in Northumberland, goes by the name "Beilby's Hornpipe," or "Bielbie's Hornpipe." The name is used in the early 18th century slang term "Beilby's Ball," referring to a hanging: "He will dance at Beilby's ball, where the sheriff plays the music" (A Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1811). It is perhaps possible that 'to dance Beilby's hornpipe' meant the same thing. At any rate, no one knows who Beilby/Bielbie was, although Noel Jackson notes that one of the musical associates of Northumbrian musician Bewick the Younger was named Bielbie. See also the related "Linhope." Also, "Original Schottische (The)" in the Thomas Hardy manuscripts, and "Original Schottische Polka (The)" in Michael Turner's manuscript copybooks are close variants.

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Recorded sources: MWM 1031, Joe Hutton - "Music from Northumberland and the Border Country" (1983. Paired with "Mrs. Anne Jamieson's Favourite").

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