When I was 15, I had an opportunity to study fiddling with Dale Morris. It was my first time travelling on my own, first time to fly on an airplane, and Texas was a foreign land. Everybody drove Lincolns, Cadillacs, or pickup trucks, and everybody called each other “hun”.
I learned a lot from Dale during that week at his house. In addition to the fiddling lessons I learned, Dale taught me to never eat a sandwich that he gives you without looking inside it first (He fed me a cat food sandwich). On of the tunes I learned from Dale that week was Cincinnati Hornpipe. It has some great bowing patterns in it that are great for practicing string changes in both directions. Today, I teach it to all of my fiddle students. Here is a recording of me playing it along with Ali, one of my fiddle students.
You may notice the similarities of Cincinnati Hornpipe to Harvest Home, another popular celtic fiddle tune.
Cincinnati Hornpipe According to the Fiddler’s Companion
CORK HORNPIPE [1], THE. AKA and see ”Cincinnati Hornpipe [1],” “Dundee Hornpipe,” “Fred Wilson’s Clog,” “Granny Will Your Dog Bite?” (Pa.), “Harvest Home [1],” “Higgin’s Hornpipe,” “Kephart’s Clog” (Pa.), “Kildare Fancy,” “Snyder’s Jig” (Pa.), “Standard Hornpipe,” “Wilson’s Clog [1],” “Zig-Zag Hornpipe/Clog.” Irish, Hornpipe. D Major. Standard. ABB’ (Moylan): AABB (Levey, Roche). The name Cork is derived from the Gaelic word coraigh, a swamp. The tune was known under this title by central New York fiddler Winifred “Murph” Baker (Champion, NY), a regionally significant traditional fiddler in the mid-late 20th century. Most American versions were learned under a variety of alternate titles (the most popular being “Harvest Home”), with “Cork Hornpipe” appearing exclusively in Irish publications.
Vi, I love these daily fiddle tunes! You are first up on my laptop each morning. Keep on fiddlin'!
How neat! I am self taught but finally had the extra $$ to start taking lessons and Dale is the closest teacher to me. I was given this song on my first lesson.