Annotation:Red Lion Hornpipe (1)
X:1 T:Red Lion Hornpipe [1] C:Zeke Backus(?) M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Hornpipe B:Coes Album of Jigs and Reels, something new, for professional and amateur violinists, B:leaders of orchestras, quadrille bands, and clog, reel and jig dancers; consisting of a B:Grand Collection of entirely New and Original Clog-Hornpipes, Reels, jigs, B:Scotch Reels, Irish Reels and Jigs, Waltzes, Walk-Arounds, etc. (1876, p. 30) N:Coes performed with the San Francisco Minstrels in California from 1852 to 1859. Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Bb (3F/G/A/| B/F/d/B/ f/d/b/f/|g/e/c/A/ B/A/G/F/|G/E/D/E/ Cc/d/|e/c/d/B/ c/A/F/A/| B/F/d/B/ f/d/b/f/|g/e/c/z/ B/A/G/F/|G/E/D/E/ C/E/B,/B/|c/e/A/c/ B:| |:F/E/|D/B,/F/D/ B/F/d/B/|e/g/e/c/ B/A/G/F/|F/A/c/A/ B/d/f/b/|a/f/g/=e/ f(3f/g/a/| b/f/d/f/ g/e/c/e/|d/B/c/A/ B/A/G/F/|G/E/D/E/ C/E/B,/B/|c/e/A/c/ B:|]
RED LION HORNPIPE [1]. American, Irish(-American); Hornpipe. USA, Missouri, New England. B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The composition is credited to one biography:Zeke Backus in both Coes Album of Jigs and Reels (1876) and Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883), one of several compositions in each volume credited to him. Backus was a blackface-minstrel performer and fiddler. Although there is no record of a ‘Zeke’, the Backus family (especially Charles) were prominent mid-19th century minstrels, touring the country and even spending time in San Francisco. The attribution to Backus is undercut, however, by the tune's appearance in the anonymous 1826-1859 music manuscript collection entitled Melodist: A Collection of music in two volumes (No. 11, p. 8), probably from the state of Maine. There are no dates for Backus, and it's possible he could have composed it when he was young. The tune was entered fairy early in the manuscript, probably pushing the date of entry closer to the earliest entries of 1826. All-in-all, the attribution to Backus is suspect as composer, although it may have been one of his favored tunes.
The hornpipe was popularized by its printing in Coes collection and particularly Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883), which probably were the sources for the dissemination of the tune. It was collected from fiddlers in Missouri by R.P. Christeson and Ira Ford (probably, as Ford did not list his sources), and it was in the contest repertory of Texas fiddler Bryant Houston. It has even tip-toed into Irish repertory and was included in Martin Mulvihill's 1986 volume, largely collected from New York Irish fiddlers.
