Uncle Herman’s Hornpipe

I learned this tune from Eric Levine when I was just a kid. He called it Herman’s Hornpipe. And it looks like there are a couple of other names for it too. I can see how Herman could become Hiram or vice versa, but how do you get Herman out of Miss Supertest’s Victory? That’s what I really want to know. 😉

Uncle Herman’s Hornpipe according to the Fiddler’s Companion

UNCLE HERMAN’S HORNPIPE. AKA and see “Hirams’s Hornpipe,” “Miss Supertest’s Victory Reel.” American, Hornpipe. USA, Texas. D Major (‘A’ part) & A Major (‘B’ part). Standard tuning. AAB (Jack Tuttle/Fiddler Magazine): AA’BB’CC’ (Phillips). The tune is well-known among Texas-style fiddlers, though it apparently started out as a Canadian tune called “Miss Supertest’s Victory Reel,” composed by John Durocher. Source for notated version: Benny Thomasson (Texas) [Phillips]. Fiddler Magazine, Spring 1994; pg. 25. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 229.  Barbara Lamb – “Fiddle Fatale.”

HIRAM’S HORNPIPE. AKA and see “Miss Supertest’s Victory Reel,” “Uncle Herman’s Hornpipe.” Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA, western North Carolina. June Appal 007, Tommy Hunter ‑ “Deep in Tradition” (1976. Learned from his grandfather James W. Hunter, Madison County, N.C.).

MISS SUPERTEST’S VICTORY REEL. AKA and see “Hiram’s Hornpipe,” “Uncle Herman’s Hornpipe.” Canadian?, Reel. D Major (‘A’ part) & A Major (‘B’ part). Standard tuning. AABB. Composed by Sarnia, southwestern Ontario, fiddler John(ny) Durocher (1934-1989), in honor of the first Canadian-owned boat to win the Harmsworth International Trophy for speed racing, in 1959. Miss Supertest was in a class of huge powerboats and was built in Sarnia. John was born the youngest of sixteen children, to a modest family of few resources. He quit school in his young teens to help make family ends meet and remained a factory worker for most of his life, not even possessing a drivers license. John came to fiddling when he found a broken fiddle in the trash one day and asked the owner for permission to retrieve it; with some repair work he had his first instrument. A few lessons from a local teacher (which served to teach him how to read and write music), were all the formal music education John received. He was a prolific composer of fiddle tunes, however, and named them for sports and current events, family and friends and topics of his day, explains Ritchie. Durocher’s music was picked up by radio fiddler Don Messer, who included many of his tunes in his broadcasts and printed collections, helping Durocher to become quite influential in the Ontario scene for his over 400 compositions. [For more see Ron Ritchie, “John Durocher: A Gifted Composer,” Fiddler Magazine, vol. 12, No. 2, Summer 2005, pgs. 25-27]. Source for notated version: New England dance caller Ted Sannella [Hebert]. Hinds/Hebert (Grumbling Old Woman), 1981; pg. 16. Ted Sanella, 1981 ‑ Balance and Swing (CDSSA). Apex Records AL1616, “Don Messer’s Jubilee.”