Annotation:Bee's Wing (The)
X:1 T:Bee's Wing, The R:hornpipe C:James Hill A:Northumberland O:England S:Kohler's Violin Repository M:4/4 L:1/16 K:Bb F2A2|B3f dB3 A3e cA3|F3d BF3 D3B FD3|E3G ce3 D3F B3d|(3c2B2A2 (3B2A2G2 F4 G2A2| B3f db3 A3f ca3|E3B Ge3 D3B Fd3|E3G c3e d3c B3A|c4B4 B4:| f2e2|dB3 f3d b3f d3B|cA3 f3c a3f c3A|GE3 B3G e3c d3B|(3c2B2A2 (3B2A2G2 F4 G2A2| B3f db3 A3f ca3|E3B Ge3 D3B Fd3|E3G c3e d3c B3A|c4B4 B4:||
BEE'S WING HORNPIPE. AKA - "The Bee's Wing." English (originally), Scottish, Canadian, Irish; Hornpipe or Clog. Canada, Cape Breton. B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Brody, Cole, Cranford/Holland, McNulty): AABBCCDD' (Hunter). Composed by the 19th century Gateshead (near Newcastle), northern England, composer James Hill, originally born in Dundonia, Scotland (nicknamed the "Newcastle Paganini"). The "Bee's Wing" has become in modern times one of the most popular Scottish fiddle hornpipes. It is attributed to Hill in Köhlers’ Violin Repository (Book 2) and was named after a famous Newcastle racehorse, a mare. Bee's Wing was foaled in 1833, sired by Dr. Syntax (1811-1838), a champion in his own right, and was bred by William Orde, a former Member of Parliament who had inherited an estate at Nunnykirk, near Morpeth, Northumberland. Bee's Wing won the Newcastle Gold Cup six times, the Doncaster Gold Cup four times, and the Ascot Gold Cup in 1842-in her career she started 64 times and won an astounding 51 races. So great was her fame that when she retired in 1842, to be put to pasture as a broodmare at Nunnykirk, Northumberland, the whole town of Morpeth turned out to greet her on her return. A local pub was renamed in her honor. It is possible the tune was named with the pub in mind, as well as the racehorse, for Hill was both an affectionado of horseracing (composing several tunes in honor of race horses and owners), and a sometime publican who also played in pubs.
A note in Ryan's/Cole's indicates the tune "can be used as a clog." "The Bee's Wing" is one of the tunes sometimes requested of Shetland fiddlers because "anything composed in a flat key is considered to be a real test of a fiddler's ability" (Cooke, 1986). Irish fiddler Sean Maguire composed a famous set of variations to Hill's melody. See also O'Neill's related "Southern Shore."
