Annotation:Ladies Hornpipe (1) (The)

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LADIES HORNPIPE [1], THE. AKA and see "Delaney's Clog," "Londonderry Clog," "Londonderry Hornpipe (The)," "Showman's Clog." Irish, Hornpipe. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB'. Frank Roche, in his Collection of Traditional Irish Music, vol. 3 (1927), prints an essay on Irish dance forms ("Note On Irish Dancing") that discusses the Ladies Hornpipe. First, he laments the loss of the older repertoire:

...the Single and Hop Jigs, the Fling-—Irish version—-the fine solid Double Reel for men, and the sprightly Single Hornpipe for females, as well as many of our Set Dances must, if known to them, have been regarded as possessing neither Artistic, Social nor National value, as they all either languished or died out during the period of their activities, the result being that some of the best and most characteristic of our dance tunes were never heard at all.

then explains:

The Single, or Ladies' Hornpipe, to which reference has already been made, was a special set of steps for the fair sex. They ranged from very easy to moderately difficult, and were in many respects not unlike the more advanced steps of the single reel, excluding their peculiar hornpipe finish. In style it was, appropriately, light, easy and graceful, and was danced to the lively simple tunes in two-four time.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Roche (Collection of Traditional Irish Music, vol. 2), 1912; No. 209, p. 10.

Recorded sources:




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