Annotation:All Hands Upon Deck (1)
X:2 T:All Hands upon Deck [1] M:C L:1/8 Q:”Spiritoso” B:Robert Topliff – “Selection of the most popular melodies of the Tyne B:and the Wear consisting of 24 original airs peculiar to the counties B:of Durham and Northumberland, three of which are harmonized B:with appropriate words, symphonies and accompaniments and B:the remainder variously arranged for the piano forte” (c. 1815, p. 40) F: http://www.farnearchive.com/show_images.asp?id=F0103902&image=1 Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D V:1 .d2 fg a2 fd|cecA Aeef|defg ^gafd|edcB Ad .d2| [F2d2][df][eg] [f2a2] fd|cecA Aeef|defg ^gafd |edcB Ad .d2|| F2 ED DddF|G2 FE EeeG|GFED Dddf|ebag fd.d2| TF2 ED DddF|TG2 FE Eeeg|[df]a[Bg]f [eg]b[ea]g|[df]a[ce]a [df]d [F2d2]|| V:2 .D2.[F2A2].D2.[F2A2]|.A,2.[C2E2].A,2.[C2E2]|[K:bass].D2 .A,2.F,2.D,2|.A,2.A,,2.D,2.D,,2| .[D,,2D,2].[A,,2D,2].[F,,2D,2].[D,,2D,2]|.[A,,2A,2].[E,2A,2].[C,2A,2].[A,,2A,2]|.[D,,2D2].[A,2D2].[F,2D2][,[D,2D2]|.[A,,2A,2].[A,,2G,2]-.[D,2F,2].[D,,2D,2]|| D,A,F,A, D,A,F,A,|C,A,E,A, C,A,E,A,| D,A,F,A, D,A,F,A,|A,,A,C,A, D,A,F,A,| .D,2 z2z2[D,,2D,2]-|.[E,,2E,2] z2z2([C,,2C,2]|[D,,2D,2][^D,,2^D,2][E,,2E,2]) [C,,2C,2]-|[D,,2D,2][G,,2G,2]-.[D,2F,2] .[D,,2D,2]||
ALL HANDS UPON DECK [1]. English, Reel (whole time). England, Northumberland. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune was first published by Robert Topliff around the year 1815 in his “Selection of the most popular melodies of the Tyne and the Wear consisting of 24 original airs peculiar to the counties of Durham and Northumberland, three of which are harmonized with appropriate words, symphonies and accompaniments and the remainder variously arranged for the piano forte.” Little is known of Topliff, but researcher Matt Seattle cites a comment from Frank Rutherford's The Collecting and Publishing of Northumbrian Folk-Song (Archaelogia Aeliana, 4th series, vol. xlii, Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, printed as a separate leaflet in 1964) who wrote that Topliff was a singer, a blind man who gave entertainments of popular melodies in the principal towns of Northumberland and Durham in the 1840s. Although there is not date given in Topliff's publication, Seattle roughly dates it by the fact that "John Bell had it to hand when compiling his song manuscript, as Topliff's tune for "Dol Li A" features there as 'Another Set from Topliff' "[1]
In Shetland the tune is known as "Jimmy at the Helm."
