Sailor’s Hornpipe – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 293

Sailor’s Hornpipe has to go down in history as one of the catchiest tunes around. I can’t hear it without having it dance around in my head for hours.

And, whenever I think of it, I also think of Popey the Sailor man.

Toot Toot!

 Sailor’s Hornpipe according to Fiddler’s Companion

SAILOR’S HORNPIPE [1]. AKA and see “College Hornpipe,” “Duke William’s Hornpipe,” “Jack’s the Lad [1],” “Lancashire Hornpipe [1].”  English (originally), American; Reel, Hornpipe, or Breakdown. England, Northumberland. USA; New York, southwestern Pa., West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas. G Major (Most versions): D Major (Sweet): B Flat Major (Hardings, Seattle/Vickers). Standard tuning. AABB. Originally titled the “College Hornpipe” this melody became known as the “Sailor’s Hornpipe” through its association with the performance of the hornpipe dance, typically performed on the stage in nautical costume (see notes for “College Hornpipe”). At the turn of the 18^th century a sailor was a favorite character of the musical stage and the nautical theme became so associated with the dance that many hornpipes were generically labeled a ‘sailor’s hornpipe’. The dance itself features a distinctive ‘side-cutting’ step. The style retained its popularity throughout the century, and none‑less than J. Scott Skinner, the famous Scottish violinist who was also a dancing master, taught the dance at Elgin and other places to his pupils. George Emerson, in his article on the Hornpipe (Folk Music Journal, vol. 2, No. 1, 1970) finds an early reference:

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”at Drury lane, May 1740, Yates ..is .. billed to perform a ‘hornpipe in the character of Jacky Tar. There is no mention then or later of anyone performing ‘the’ or ‘a’ sailor’s hornpipe. It is always a ‘hornpipe in the character of a sailor’..”

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As the “College Hornpipe” the tune was in print in 1797 or 1798 by J. Dale of London, and although the melody predates Dale’s publication, the English antiquarian Chappell’s editor dates it no earlier than the second half of the 18^th century. Emerson suggests the comic ballet The Wapping Landlady (1767) was the source of the Sailor Hornpipe that was famously danced by the American dancer Durang for some twenty years at the end of the 18^th century. The ballet featured the trials of Jack Tar ashore, and was choreographed by Arnold Fisher (of “Fisher’s Hornpipe” fame). See also note for “College Hornpipe” for more.

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“Sailor’s Hornpipe” was imported to North America where it entered traditional repertoire and became fairly widely known, still with its nautical connotations–so strong was the association, in fact, that it was selected as the theme song of a popular mid-20th century animated cartoon character, Popeye the Sailorman.  Bronner (1987) reports the earliest known printing in the United States was in a publication by B. Carr entitled Evening Entertainments in the year 1796 (under the “College Hornpipe” title). Although the name “Sailor’s Hornpipe” has been something of a floating title in the United States, it is probably the ‘College’ tune under this title which was cited as having commonly been played for country dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930’s (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly). Similarly in American tradition, it was played at a fiddle contest in Verbena, Alabama, in 1921 (as noted in the Union Banner of October 27, 1921), and also in another 1920’s contest in Georgia by one R.L. Stephens of Camp Hill, Alabama (according to the Columbus (Ga.) Register of December 10‑12, 1926) {Cauthen, 1990}. The title also appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. The late Kentucky fiddler George Lee Hawkins, renowned as a “hornpipe fiddler,” played “Sailors” in the key of F.