Annotation:Pacific Slope (1)
X:1 T:Pacific Slope [1] M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Reel S:Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:A (3E/F/G/ | .A{B}(A/G/) (A/c/) (3e/f/g/ | .a{b}(a/g/) a/e/c/A/ | f/d/B/A/ G/A/B/c/ | d/B/c/A/ G/E/F/G/ | .A{B}(A/G/) (A/c/) (3e/f/g/ | .a{b}(a/g/) a/e/c/A/ | f/d/B/A/ G/A/B/d/ | c/A/B/G/ A :| |: (c/d/) | .e{g}a e/c/A/c/ | .d{a}b B/c/d/B/ | g/b/e/g/ b/e/g/b/ | a/c'/e/a/ c'/e/a/c'/ | e'c' ae | f/d/B/f/ e/c/A/c/ | .B(g/f/) e/d/B/G/ | A/a/e/c/ A :|]
PACIFIC SLOPE [1]. AKA and see "Cambridge Hornpipe," "Chief O'Neill's Visit," "Old Cambridge Hornpipe." American; Reel or Hornpipe (2/4 or cut time). USA; Midwest, southwestern Pa., New England. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Christeson, Cole, Hinds, Phillips, Sweet): AB (Bayard). The Pacific Slope refers to that part of North America that drains into the Pacific Ocean, a term that had particular meaning in the 19th century prior to the formation of the region into states and territories. Then it was America’s “manifest destiny” to settle and develop the lands of the Pacific Slope, then the frontier. The melody is commonly played at mid-western fiddle contests, despite being (as Rodney Miller says) a Yankee tune. “Pacific Slope” is one of ‘100 essential Missouri tunes’ listed by Missouri fiddler Charlie Walden. Samuel Bayard (1981) states that the title has apparently remained constant for this piece, at least in published versions, unlike many other tunes in the traditional repertory that often feature a multiplicity of titles. John Hartford has identified that the 2nd strain is similar to the 2nd strain of "Harvey's Favorite" on p. 20 of Dobson's New System For the Banjo. An Irish version appears in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland (1903) under the title “Chief O'Neill's Visit." A hornpipe version also was called “Cambridge Hornpipe (The)” AKA "Old Cambridge Hornpipe" in Laybourn's Kohler's Violin Repository, however, it earlier was printed by the composer, blackface minstrel performer and composer George H. Coes, as "Old Cambridge Reel" in his Coes Album of Jigs and Reels (1876).
See also the shared first strain of "Zinger."
