Rickett’s hornpipe

in swansea, it’s used to dance the gower reel, and phill tanner who dowdled the music for dancing, called the tune the liverpool hornpipe. the rest of wales calls in the wrexham hornpipe, (wrexham not being that far from liverpool)

variations were played in wales but under different names - the spanish hornpipe, seven, and the aldrige amongst others. the aldrige hornpipe is known in england but is a number of different tunes. also in england the tune is used by the bampton morris, in oxfordshire as a jig, called the fool’s jig. aldrige is near birmingham but mr aldrige was a dancer who had several dance tunes including hornpipes and allemandes composed for him in the eighteenth century

as if that weren’t confusing enough, there is another tune called the wrexham hornpipe in wales, which the people around that area in north east wales call the swansea hornpipe, which is near gower.

Leo Rowsome recorded this as the Manchester Hornpipe. It’s a common tune in American fiddling.

Collected, edited and arranged by Robin Huw Bowen
National Library of Wales, 1987
ISBN: 0-907158-25-0

~ & those other names, as mentioned above, pages 47 & 48:

54.) "Pibddawns Wrecsam" / "The Wrexham Hornpipe"
~ & variants:
54a.) "Y Bibddawns Sbaenig" / "The Spanish Hornpipe"
54b.) "Saith" / "Seven"
54c.) "Pibddawns Aldridge" / The Aldridge Hornpipe"

Key signature: D Major
Submitted on March 15th 2007 by Falkbeer.
https://thesession.org/tunes/6947

With a few subtle differences ~
The Sailors Hornpipe #2 (~ ?)

R: hornpipe
K: D Major
|: (3ABc |
dcdA FAdf | edcB A2 fg | afaf bagf | edcB A2 fe |
dcdA FAdf | edcB A2 fg | afdg bgec | d2 d2 d2 :||
|: (3efg |
afaf d2 ga | bgbg e2 fg | afaf bagf | edcB A2 fe |
dcdA FAdf | edcB A2 fg | afdg bgec | d2 d2 d2 :|]

Just having some fun with this, and I wouldn’t necessarily do all this at once, as given, but here are some other ways with this old standard, first swung and then not. I did also, not notated, tend to throw in a ‘snap’ now and then ~

K: D Major
|: (3gfe |
d2 d>A F>A (3def | e>d (3dcB A2 f>g | a2 (3fga b>ag>f | (3efe (3dcB A>gf>e |
d>cd>A F2 d>f | e>dc>B A2 g2 | f>ad>g b>ge>c | d2 A2 D2 :|
|: (3efg |
a2 f>a d2 (3fga | b2 g>b e2 f>g | a>fd>g b2 (3agf | e2 (3dcB A2 (3gfe |
d>cd>A F>A (3def | e2 (3dcB A>gf>g | a2 d>g b2 e>c | d2 (3ABA D2 :|

K: D Major
|: fe |
d2 dA FAdf | edcB A2 fg | a2 fa bagf | e2 dB Agfe |
dcdA F2 df | edcB A2 g2 | fadg bgec | d2 A2 D2 :|
|: fg |
a2 fa d2 fa | b2 gb e2 fg | afdg b2 af | e2 dB A2 fe |
dcdA FAdf | e2 dB Agfg | a2 dg b2 ec | d2 A2 D2 :|

I found this version of Rickett’s and Fisher’s Hornpipes on YouTube and transcribed Rickett’s for this posting.

See— http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjc4mSyBveo

play video

The above sample has is from an unidentified source of 17th colonial music with violin, flute and classical guitar. In keeping with the music of the times, it sounds more like Mozart and the barely resembles the version Rickett’s found on The Session or Fiddler’s Companion website.

If you imagine being dressed like George & Martha Washington (in a hoop skirt that covers a full square yard), who are attending a formal presidential ball, then the tune works well.

X:1
T:Rickett’s Hornpipe Colonial in F
C:Colonial America Version
M:2/4
L:1/8
K:F
%Colonial Version
f>c- cf/e/|dg/f/ ed/c/ | d>c-cB/A/|Gc/B/ AG/F/|
f>c- cf/e/|dg/f/ ed/c/ | dc-c=B | c2 z A|
B/c/ d/e/ f>f | g/a/ b/a/ g>f | gf fe | f2 z A |
B/c/ d/e/ f>f | g/a/ b/a/ g>f | gf fe | f3 z ||

‘it barely resembles the version’…
You couldn’t be more right! It’s not the same tune and a finer tune at that! Only the second part sounds like a hornpipe. So doees the second tune in the said set.

I played Rickett’s, Aldridges and bottom of the Punch Bowl since a kid in the fife and drum scene. I know a completely different tune for Bottom of the Punch Bowl. will post later if I can.

Despite the name, definitely no relationship to this hornpipe! 😏 I haven’t yet checked my ‘colonial American music’ sources, but am curious if they actually even share the same category, meaning ‘hornpipe’? For comparison’s sake I’ve moved X:4 to 4/4 and then transposed it to G. It should be in a separate entry. It’s nowhere near the same tune or even related distantly, which is more than just my opinion, see the entries above…

I always found this one had a strong resemblance to Off to California. The melodic structure is, at least in my head, nearly identical for the two tunes.

An Irish flute tune I learned as a kid from a Mel Bay book

This one seems to go under a lot of different names. It’s already here, but apparently not with the "Sailor’s" title: https://thesession.org/tunes/272

There’s a Morris tune that is very very similar called "Much Wenlock" (or as John Kirkpatrick titles it in his LP, "Much Wenlock Jig.") It’s basically the A section of this hornpipe, but as such, as the B section is not present, I consider this a different tune and wouldn’t add it as an alternate title.