Annotation:Bristol Hornpipe (The)
X:1 T:Bristol Hornpipe L:1/8 M:C S:Honeyman - Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor (1898) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A (3efg|a>ec>e A>ce>a|f>dB>G A2 B>c|d>ef>e d>cB>A|G>AF>G E2 (3efg| a>ec>e A>ce>a|f>dB>G A2 B>c|d>fe>d c>BA>G|B2 (A2 A2):| |:e>d|ceAe ceAe|dfBf dfBd|ceAe ceAc|B>AG>F E>fe>d| ceAe ceAe|fdBf dfBf|e>ag>f e>dc>B|A2 [ca]2 A2:||
BRISTOL HORNPIPE, THE. AKA and see "Beckels Hornpipe," "Blacksmith's Hornpipe (2) (The)," "Clover Blossom (The)," "L'Italienne," "Pretty Kate Reel," "Railway Hornpipe (5)," "Slayley Bridge Hornpipe." English, Scottish; Hornpipe. England, Northumberland. A Major (Honeyman, Kennedy, Kerr, Raven): G Major (Hall & Stafford). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Kerr): AABB. The name Bristol (Glouchestershire) is an Anglo-Saxon name, given as Bricgstow in 1063, 'the meeting place by the bridge.' It was an important Saxon town, having its own mint, and later became England's second port. Eleanor of Brittany, the granddaughter of Henry II, was confined by king John in 1203 at various castles in the area and remained a prisoner for thirty-nine years until her death at Bristol Castle. Queen Elizabeth I visited Bristol in 1574 and remarked that the Church of St. Mary's was the "fairest and goodliest" church in the land.
Phillip Heath Coleman is of the opinion that the variety of names attached to this once-popular hornpipe in England have kept the seemingly ubiquitous melody from being recognized as "probably the most popular hornpipe amongst traditional musicians in England until the end of the 20th century" [1]. In effect, the variety of names kept it invisible, he concludes. Peter Kennedy (1951) gave "Blacksmith's Hornpipe" as an alternate title for the tune, source unknown, although he may have copied it from Köhler's Violin Repository where it also appears as "Blacksmith's Hornpipe (2) (The)." . Heath-Coleman [2] finds that the hornpipe is found in Wales as "Smith's Hornpipe," a title perhaps related to blacksmithing, although "The Blacksmith's Hornpipe" usually refers to a variant of "Fisher's Hornpipe." Francis O'Neill prints a version in his Dance Music of Ireland (1907) as "Clover Blossom (The)", giving an alternate title of "Harlequin Hornpipe (3)." Heath-Coleman also finds a version of this tune as part of Suffolk melodeon player Cecil Pearl's "Dick Iris's Hornpipe" (where is is paired with "Petronella"). See also the English variant "Lemmie Brazil's No. 2" (first strain only, and the strains are reversed).
A close variant can be found as "Pretty Kate Reel" published by J.W. Peppar in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1908. See also J.A. Boucher's "L'Italienne" published in 1933.
