Annotation:Swallow Sloop of War
X:1 T:”Swallow,” Sloop of War M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel R:Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D (FD)FA d2 de | fdgf eEEG | (FD)FA d2de | (fa)ef d<d d2 | (FD)FA d2 de | fdgf eEEG | (FD)FA d2 de | (fa)ef d<d d2 || fdfd afdf | egfe dBAg | fdfd afdf | (eg)fe d<d d2 | fdfd afdf | egfe dBAG | FDFA dfag | (fd)ef d<d d2 ||
"SWALLOW," SLOOP OF WAR. AKA and see “Swallow (1) (The).” Scottish, Reel. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. The reel is the Scottish reel "Swallow (1) (The)", printed by Robert Bremner in 1761 and appearing in several Scottish music collections. The title "Swallow, Sloop of War" would seem to be an American enhancement. The reel was published in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883), one of Boston music publisher Elias Howe's publications under the larger title, and perhaps references the sloop-of-war "Swallow", a New England War of Independence blockade runner equipped with six small cannons and a few deadly swivel guns. The sloop was designed to run the British blockade along the Connecticut coast and run to the West Indies to trade fish, oil and lumber for powder and military supplies. However, on its maiden voyage the Swallow was chased and captured by the British and the captain and crew sent to imprisonment in England. After being imprisoned for six months Captain Murphy and nine of his crew escaped and made their way to France, where they enlisted the aid of envoy Benjamin Franklin. All made it back to Massachusetts.
However, "Swallow" seems to have been a popular name for smaller, faster vessels, and there were several sloops named "Swallow" in the American and other navy.
