Hornpipe

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The term hornpipe refers to one of several traditional folk dance forms played and danced in Britain and elsewhere, and current from the late 17th century until the present day.

The commonest use of the term nowadays refers to tunes in 4/4 time. It is danced wearing a hard shoe. This type of hornpipe is generally thought of as a sailors' dance, and perhaps the best known example is the Sailors' Hornpipe. There are two basic types of common-time hornpipe, ones like the Sailors' Hornpipe, moving in even notes, sometimes notated in 2/2, moving a little slower than a reel, and ones like The Harvest Home, moving in dotted notes. Some 19th century examples mix the two styles. The form dates back to the mid 18th century or earlier, but became much more popular in the early 19th century. Many fine hornpipes were written in this period, many with known composers. In Ireland, examples include The Groves Hornpipe and The Boys of Bluehill. In England, a noted composer of hornpipes on Tyneside was the influential fiddler-publican James Hill (c.1811-1853). The form also became very popular in the United States - President Garfield's Hornipe is a fine example.
The word also refers to an English or Scottish dance in a lively 3/2 time, often syncopated. Many country dance examples are found in The Dancing Master and there are also extant theatrical choreographies which make a characteristic use of step-units going across the measure. Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel composed hornpipes, and Handel occasionally gave "alla hornpipe" as a tempo indication. Today, the most well-known baroque hornpipe tune is probably Purcell's "Hornpipe Rondeau" from the incidental music to Abdelazer, which was used by Benjamin Britten as the theme for his Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra. The musical form of the 3/2 hornpipe remained popular in northern English and lowland Scottish instrumental music until the 19th century, and many examples are still well known and widely played in Northumberland, such as the song Dance ti thy Daddy, and the variation set Lads of Alnwick. The form is very suitable for the playing of variations, which has probably accounted for its survival among players of the Northumbrian smallpipes. Lads of Alnwick, in particular, has survived in the oral and manuscript tradition without major change from its earliest known appearance in the 1730's in William Dixon's MS, until the modern era, when an almost identical 5-strain version was written down by Tom Clough.
The term was also used formerly to refer to tunes in 9/4 or 9/8 time. These may have been though of as differing only inessentially from the 3/2 hornpipes. Some early examples of these are also syncopated. The form survives in Northumberland and Ireland Mad Moll, or The Peacock Follows the Hen, has remained current since at least 1698 when it appeared in The Dancing Master. Such tunes are usually referred to nowadays by the Irish name slip jig.

Hornpipe

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