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The Derry hornpipe

Also known as Cornphíopa Doire, Londonderry, The Londonderry, Quadrille De L’oncle Ti-Bé.

There are 84 recordings of this tune.

This tune has been recorded together with

The Derry appears in 4 other tune collections.

The Derry has been added to 10 tune sets.

The Derry has been added to 288 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Two settings

1
X: 1
T: The Derry
R: hornpipe
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:AG|F2Ad fdAF|G2Bd gdBG|F2Ad fdAF|E2GB ecAG|
F2Ad fdAF|G2Bd g2ag|fafd Bgec|d2 f2 d2:|
|:fg|a2fd Adfa|g2ec Aceg|a2fd Adgf|(3efd (3cdB A2fg|
a2fd Adfa|gece g2ag|fafd Bgec|d2 f2 d2:|
|:AG|(3FED AD BDAD|dcdf ecAG|(3FED AD BDAD|EGFA GBAG|
(3FED AD BDAC|dcdf eceg|(3fgf df gece|df (3edc d2:|
|:(3efg|a^gab afdf|gfga gece|a^gab afdf|(3efd (3cdB A2 (3efg|
a^gab afdf|gfef gbag|(3fgf df gece|df (3edc d2:|
|:fg|(3aaa fd Adfd|(3aaa ec Acec|fdge afbg|ecdB A2 fg|
(3aaa fd Adfd|(3ggg ec A2ag|fdAF Egec|d2 f2 d2:|
|:FG|AFAd fedc|BGBe gfed|cAce agfe|fcdB A2 FG|
AFAd fedc|BGBd g2ag|fafd Bgec|d2 f2 d2:|
2
X: 2
T: The Derry
R: hornpipe
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: Dmaj
|:~F2 Ad fdAF|~G2 Bd gdBG|~F2 Ad fdAF|~E2 cd ecAG|
~F2 Ad fdAF|~G2 Bd g2 .ag|(3.f.g.f df eAce|1 d3 cd BAG:|2 d3 cd efg||
|:.a2 fd Adfa|.g2 ec A2 (3.e.f.g|.a2 fd Aggf|(3.e.f.e (3.d.cB A2 (3.e.f.g|
a2 fd Adfa|gfef gbag|(3.f.g.f df eAce|1 d3 cd efg:|2 d3 cd BAF||
|:~D2 AD BDAD|dcdf ecAF|~D2 AD BDAD|(3.E.F.G (3.F.G.A GBAF|
~D2 AD BDAD|dcdf ecAg|fAdf eAce|1 d3 cd BAF:|2 d3 cd efg||
|:~a3 b afdf|~g3 a gece|~a3 b afdf|e2 (3.d.cB A2 (3.e.f.g|
~a3 b afdf|gfef g2 ag|(3.f.g.f df eAce|1 d3 cd efg:|2 d3 cd EFG||
|:.A2 .Ad (3..g.f.e dA|BGBd gfed|cAcd edcd|(3.g.f.e (3.d.cB A2 FG|
AFAd (3.g.f.e dA|BGBd g2 ag|(3.f.g.f df eAce|d3 cd EFG:|

Eighteen comments

The Derry Hornpipe

I was surprised to see that this wasn’t in thesession database. There are - as ever - oodles of versions of The Derry Hornpipe knocking about. The Tipperary Hornpipe’s A part is very close to the Derry’s A-part and I gather there’s a hornpipe called The Elks’ Festival which is pretty damn close to the last two parts of the tune. There are three-part versions around and I think Cathal McConnell’s version on "Long Expectant …" is a six-parter. This is pretty close to the O’Neill’s version.

i learned this a good few years ago at the instigation of some players at a session…and nobody else did!
i still quite like the tune though!

Suggestion …

Tip Max off … it’s one of those tunes he likes to trot out early in the night when things are just settling. He gives it a good lash!

Derry HP

It is a great tune. Challanging and melodic. But I wouldn’t cxall it The LD HP. I think that people from Derry might not care for the added baggage implied by calling it The LD HP rather than just The Derry HP.

I think s/he means that it’s also called the LondonDerry hornpipe upon occasion, Mark. ;)

I had some lovely tunes in Derry.

Long, rambling tune full of nothing much. That last part’s the best bit.

It’s a bit long

Posted .

I used to play this one but with differences, along with some other long and rambling numbers ~ and then folks like ‘Dow’ started with the negatives and the "ho hums" and the whispering ~ and so, to placate the complainers, the naysayers and grumps, I set such fancies aside… 😎

😛 Nyah, nyah, nyah!!!

Was this a set?

Ok, so the first two sections look like the Ladies’ Hornpipe. And the last two seem to be the Elk’s Festival. So if the middle two are something else again, then this is a set that got standardised at some point.

Ladies’ Hornpipe: https://thesession.org/tunes/5625
The Elk’s Festival: https://thesession.org/tunes/8244

(London)derry Hornpipe

A friendly warning re. cocus’s note from 2005, but I really wouldn’t go calling this tune the "Derry Hornpipe" in the wrong part of (London)derry! It’s no place for naivete.

Theme song to a game show????

Wasn’t this tune used as the theme music on an American television game show of the seventies???? I think I’ve heard it there before. Anyone else know about this?

The Derry, X:2

Taught to me by Brian McNamara at Willie Clancy 2016. This is just the basic version we learned in class, I’m sure there are a lot of variations that can be put in.

Re: The Derry aka Oncle Ti-Bé’s

Oliviers Demers’s 1000 Airs du Québec et de l’Amérique Francophone (A latter days O’Neill’s for Quebec!) has just come out in print (2020)
The Londonderry Hornpipe can be found in it, p.167, under the monicker "Quadrille de l’oncle Ti-Bé (#2)"
This melody is also played as a reel, as parts 4 & 5 of the Dionne Reel (Les Cinq Jumelles Dionne, p.46 in the book)
https://thesession.org/tunes/1364
Demers got the name for this hornpipe from Yvon Mimeault’s uncle Antoine Mimeault. (many so called reels, gigues or quadrilles originated as hornpipes in Quebec, btw)
NB: some melodic patterns are common to many French Canadian tunes. The second part of the L’Derry hornpipe (in D) for example is played (in A) the Hangman’s reel, etc.