Annotation:Almack's Hornpipe

Can be used for a clog dance, says a note in Ryan's Mammoth Collection. Although the origin of the tune's name is unknown, it should be noted that Almack's Assembly Rooms (popularly known as Almack's), King Street, London, was one of the most exclusive establishments of Regency society, and a center for fashionable popular dancing and entertainments. The rules were strict and entry was as guarded as any exclusive modern nightclub-the doors were manned by the manager and a well-known doorkeeper, Willis, and they closed at eleven-thirty promptly. Admissions vouchers had to be shown upon entry (Thompson, Dancing Through Time, 1998, pg. 131). The name Almack's derived from its owner, William Macall, who reversed the syllables of his last name because he thought his real name sounded too Scottish, and thus unfashionable. The rooms (which consisted of a ballroom, supper rooms and game rooms) opened in 1765 and continued to be a center of social life through the mid-19th century. The doors were finally closed in 1863. Ryan's tune may refer to the original Almacks, or any one of a number of establishments that used the name in imitation. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 112. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg. 150. White's Unique Collection, 1896; No. 140, pg. 25.