Hornpipes

This is the place for hornpipes in 4/4 time as opposed to the earlier versions that can be found in the 3/2 and 6/4 tunes section.

A probably definitive article on the hornpipe was written by George Emmerson in the Folk Music Journal Vol.2 No.1

Many of the 4/4 hornpipes in the English tradition originated in the theatre, the most famous being the Sadler's Wells, in London.

Many of the tunes we play now were named for the actor/dancers who performed them - Fisher, Durang, Ball..... The tunes travelled and many of them crossed the North Sea where they settled into a new Scandinavian home as Engelskas.

The early tunes were mostly written down and presumably played 'straight', ie. without dotted notes. As the 4/4 hornpipe moved into the end of the 19th century, it acquired a more dotted characteristic and many of these tunes shared a common feel with the Schottische and many Schottische dances today are done to dotted hornpipes - eg. Nottingham Swing.

Please refer to the help page on Referencing Hornpipes before adding tunes.

• Albert Farmer's Bonfire Tune