Annotation:McPartland's Style
McPARTLAND'S STYLE. AKA - "McPartlin's Style." AKA and see "Greencastle Hornpipe (The)." Irish, Hornpipe. Recorded under this title by Leitrim flute player John McKenna (1880-1947) as the 2nd tune in a medley with "Buck From the Mountain (The)." The hornpipe commemorates a champion step dancer born in the Sranooan-Cornagee-Rover area of Arigna, County Roscommon, who took first place in the Arigna sports day dancing competition in the early twentieth century, dancing to the music of flute player James McManus. McKenna saw him dance and named this hornpipe in his honor (or, rather, renamed it, as there is no evidence it was original with McKenna). Patrick McPartland (c. 1857-1906), still remembered as one of the greatest dancers of his era, was a shoemaker by trade. Step-dancing competitions still take place in Ballyfarnon (where McPartland died), where the custom is to unhinge a door to make a platform on which the performers tap out a reel. Patrick McPartland was commemorated with a trophy at the O'Carolan Harp Festival in Keadue, with the trophy presented by his grandson, flute player Marcas Ă MurchĂș, on the August Bank Holiday, 2005.
