Jack’s The Lad hornpipe

A very old tune with strong maritime connotations, found in O’Neill (not all editions), and known in a slightly different arrangement to anyone who has ever heard the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms.
First heard it played in a session on 30 October 2002 in a very old dockside pub in Bristol, England (what better place!). A box player started it off and was joined by flutes and whistles and a handful of fiddle players (including me) who knew it.
Not sure whether it is in fact a true hornpipe, but it can just as easily be played as a reel.

I was there at that very old dockside pub last night (Hi Trev)
I,m sure it better known by another name.I thought it was composed by mike oldfield - surely not, maybe he just arranged it for Blue Peter theme (UK childrens programe)

Am I missing the irony here? Surely this is the Sailor’s Hornpipe? The Mike Oldfield arrangement for Blue Peter (a children’s TV programme for our North American friends) I think you are referring to is for a tune called Portsmouth. He did do a version of the sailor’s hornpipe for something else which had to be speeded up as he could not play the mandolin particularly quickly. Ooooh! Saucer of milk for my friend please.

Here is a version (also in D) from Tro Llaw, a collection from The National Library of Wales. Here it is known, in Welsh, as “Y Llew Coch”, or “The Red Lion”.

dc|d2D2 D2AG|FAd2 dfed|e2E2 E2AG|FGAB A4|
gfga bagf|gfed dcBA|Bdce dfeg|f2d2 d2:|
|:AG|FAdA FAdA|B2G2 G2GF|EBeB EBeB|c2A2 A2f2|
gfga bagf|gefd dcBA|Bdce dfeg|f2d2 d2:||

trevor

I have heard the song for the first time on the Night of the Proms. There it was combined with 2 other songs under the name Seasongs. I like this song very much!!! It’s my favorite.

Angel

I usually hear this tune (see it written) in the key of Bb maj. You can’t seem to submit a tune in that key on thesession.org, so I transposed it into Dmaj, the second-most common key for this tune.

A lot of people also know this song as Sailor’s Hornpipe, or the theme from the Popeye cartoons.

This tune was widely played prior to 1800, but continues to be popular.

There appears to be an error in the first bar of the second half - shouldn’t it be FAdA FAdA?
Also, this tune is a version of Jack’s The Lad which is already on the database. For the avoidance of confusion perhaps it ought to be posted to the file on that tune as a comment.
Trevor

Grack, there might be an error in the abc notation since the sheetmusic has not been created. I don’t think c’ is valid input. My abc program gives me an error message if I try to enter that.
Heike

Heike, my copy of ABCMus2.0 played this tune ok without any error messages. I’ve checked the tune through manually and it seems to be valid ABC coding. The c‘ and d’ in the first part are valid ABC inputs (an octave above c and d respectively), but some players may not like playing that high. And, as I said in my previous post each “c” in the first bar of the second part should be a “d”. I still think it should be posted as a comment to Jack’s The Lad.
Trevor

Gracke, what was your source for this version of the tune?
Trevor

Okay, I figured out that this was the same tune as Jack’s the Lad. Someone had put this tune on the requests list recently. I was suprised it was not on there and posted it not realizing it was already here under another name.

This version came out of a book of Fiddle and Irish music for the mandolin.

Sorry about the error in the first bar of the second part. I used a program to transpose it…guess there’s a bug in the program…I should have proofread it before posting.

Yeah, looks I should just post this as a comment to Jack’s the Lad.

Thanks…. ;)

..and the high notes….probably also due to the transposition. This one was originally written out in Bb…works better in that key….

Yeah, I’m the one who requested Sailor’s Hornpipe… um…

I meant the one for Highland dancing’s Sailor’s Hornpipe… the Crossing the Minch on here is what I was looking for, but only half of it was posted.

I heard this played at a session recently on D whistles. I can’t remember their version well enough to see the differences between that and the one here but I’m sure there must have been differences because reaching the highest notes given here is hard. It needs a double over-blow and ends up as a shriek. The version you have given sounds OK (on the piano) Is there a version which works better on the whistle (preferably D, but C would be OK too)?

I think I’ve got my answer! Jack’s the Lad!

https://thesession.org/tunes/1097

https://thesession.org/tunes/2168

Here it is in its original key of Bb:

X: 1
T: Jack’s The Lad
T: The Sailor’s Hornpipe
T: The College Hornpipe
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: Bbmaj
BA|B2B,2 B,2FE|DFBA BdcB|c2C2 C2cB|Acf2 f2ga|
bagf gfed|edcB BAGF|GBAc Bdce|d2B2 B2:|
|:FE|DFBF DFBF|G2E2 E2GF|=EGcG EGcG|A2F2 F2cd|
edef gfed|edcB BAGF|GBAc Bdce|d2B2 B2:|

And again in the key of G:

X: 1
T: Jack’s The Lad
T: The Sailor’s Hornpipe
T: The College Hornpipe
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: Gmaj
GF|G2G, G,DC|B,DGF GBAG|A2A,2 A,2AG|FAd2 d2ef|
gfed edcB|cBAG GFED|EGFA GBAc|B2G2 G2:|
|:DC|B,DGD B,DGD|E2C2 C2ED|^CEAE CEAE|F2D2 D2AB|
cBcd edcB|cBAG GFED|EGFA GBAc|B2G2 G2:|

No that was rubbish, try again:


X: 1
T: Jack’s The Lad
T: The Sailor’s Hornpipe
T: The College Hornpipe
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: Gmaj
GF|G2G,2 G,2DC|B,DGF GBAG|A2A,2 A,2AG|FAd2 d2ef|
gfed edcB|cBAG GFED|EGFA GBAc|B2G2 G2:|
|:DC|B,DGD B,DGD|E2C2 C2ED|^CEAE CEAE|F2D2 D2AB|
cBcd edcB|cBAG GFED|EGFA GBAc|B2G2 G2:|

Grack, it’s possible to submit a Bb tune by putting it under Gmin - which has the same two flats - and then just comment that the tune is really a Bb tune.
I ran into a similar problem the other day when I posted a tune in Eb. I got round that by posting it in Gmin and adding Ab’s where needed. But another member kindly pointed out that if I’d chosen Fdor it would have got those 3 flats automatically.

Triplicated:

https://thesession.org/tunes/1097
https://thesession.org/tunes/2168

The version posted at the above URLs (those two being almost identical) is a bit different from this one - in D, and with a bit of jumping around between the octaves. It remains to be judged whether this one gets to stay or not.

Key signature: G Major
Submitted on March 8th 2007 by Falkbeer.
https://thesession.org/tunes/6914

K: G Major
|: gf |
g2 G2 G2 dc | Bdgf gbag | a2 A2 A2 AG | FA d2 d2 ef |
gfed edcB | cBAG GFED | EGFA GBAc | B2 G2 G2 :|
|: dc |
Bdgd Bdgd | e2 c2 c2 ed | ^ceae ceae | f2 d2 d2 ef |
gfed edcB | cBAG GFED | EGFA GBAc | B2 G2 G2 :|

Nah…

See the comments for the above link #1097 for many more takes on this melody…

https://thesession.org/tunes/1097/comments

Yeah, nah.

Sailor’s Hornpipe is the name of a particular genre of hornpipe rather than the name of a tune, like Stage Hp is another type.

One thing about this transcription: I’d say this was the more common key for the tune than D.

Yup! ~ Gee!!!

“The Sailor’s Hornpipe” is the name of a dance form, sadly also including ‘character dance’, a stereotype for a dancing sailor. A number of hornpipes picked up the name, along with the alternatives, like “Jacky Tar” & “Jack Tar”. It was also a popular performance for the Vaudeville stage, along with tap dance and other stereotypes like the black-face minstrels…

You do realize that two neighs from us may set this one in concrete for a digital eternity don’t you… Like the Python knights that go Neigh!, or is it Neee? or Knee? or Ni? or Niii? or Nit? or Nnnneee!!! ~ Niegh! I say, varlet, unhand that sailor…

Jeremy may well decide to leave it. He’s said before that he doesn’t mind duplicates in different keys so long as they’re common session keys and you’re not just changing the key for the sake of it. The thing about the different settings of this one is that the pitch range is so wide that you have to change octaves, so that makes the settings quite different. Yes, it’s the same tune, but I wouldn’t be heartbroken if this one stayed.

As if either of us would lose sweat over it, eh? It’s not as if it’s like those floating t**ds of nuovo pop that keep bubbling to the surface from the deep do, the waste products of unappreciated geniuses, mutated, deformed, recycled ~ you know, the Frankenstein syndrome…

Igor, I mean Dow, no, I mean Mark ~ gather me more tune fragments so I can create more monstrosities…

DELETE IT! Only because Jeremy deleted one of my full 2 part submissions.. when only the A part was submitted previously… it doesn’t bother me though… I CAN HANDLE IT!
😀

As mentioned it is in G which seems to be the standard key. Ive never played it in D and probably never will…. unless there’s money involved.

What about F?

If it does go, the notes are preserved in the comments for the earlier submission of this one…

There ya go ‘c’. Despite your whinging Jeremy has let it stay. I knew he’d have the sense not to listen to you 😀

It’s past your bedtime Dow… 🙁

Your phone’s ringing, ‘c’. Whatever you do, don’t answer it!

Too late, answered… Now I’m in the mood for reading Sylvia Plath… 😲

in the words of ‘Cilla Black’ “Who are you and where are you from” Falkbeer.
It’s nice to know something about people on the session and sometimes helps in making useful comments. But perhaps you wish to remain anonymouse.

Anon-y-mouse! ~ I like that hetty… I can hear you now doing your Cilla Black imitation… Now give the singing a go will you, so I can carry the laughter for another few minutes…

Hey hetty, and falkbeer, do they make their own beer on the Falklands? I haven’t seen tried that yet if they do…

“DELETE IT! Only because Jeremy deleted one of my full 2 part submissions.”

If we’re going to go there, Marylander, I could bring up The Pride of Cluinte - or even Paddy’s Pigeons (few people would even have noticed it was a version of the Pigeon on the Gate, had I not mentioned it in the comments) - but I choose not to let the bees out of my bonnet.

So I leave the voting to those capable of rational thought.

“Rational Thought”? ~ care to venture a definition? 😏

My definition surely wouldn’t count for anything.

Here is an 18th century version, from the William Clarke MS (1770) :

T:Colledge Hornpipe. WCl.59
M:C
L:1/8
Q:1/2=90
S:William Clarke MS,Lincoln,1770.
R:.Hornpipe
O:Lincoln
A:England
Z:vmp.Barry Callaghan
K:Bb
BA|B2B,4FE|DFB4((3dcB)|c2C4cB|Ac f4 ga|!
bagf gfed|ecde BAGF|GBAc Bdce|d2(B2B2):|!
|:FE|DFBF DFBF|G2E2E2GF|=EGcG EGcG|A2F2F2 ed|!
ef g2-gfed|ecde BAGF|GBAc Bdce|d2B2-B2:|

Dr Dow is correct in saying that the “Sailor’s Hornpipe” is a type of dance; however the name has attached itself to this particular tune, which I also know as “The College Hornpipe”.

Some variations that work second or third time through the tune, could also play runs between the high d’s and g’s, and between the e’s and a’s in the B Part.

Some tune trivia on the Sailor’s Hornpipe (according to Tunearch): “….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 18th century. The ballet featured the trials of Jack Tar ashore, and was choreographed by Arnold Fisher (of “Fisher’s Hornpipe” fame).”

We found the tune under the name of the College Hornpipe in an old book of dance tunes ( without a cover ) that we found in London in a secondhand store . It’s in the key of C .

There’s a Bb version of the College Hornpipe in Scott Skinner’s “The Scottish Violinist” published in 1900 by Bayley and Ferguson but reprinted many times since.

I bought my copy in Inverness about 15 years ago. I had a copy before but lost it.

I see that the indefatigable Dr. Dow posted a Bb version under Jack’s the Lad/College Hornpipe tune section.
https://thesession.org/tunes/1097

Skinner’s version is interesting to play.

With a slightly modified ending