Annotation:Thames Hornpipe
X:1 T:Thames Hornpipe M:C L:1/8 R:Hornpipe S:Kerr – Merry Melodies, vol. 3, No. 365 (c. 1880’s) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:Bb (fe) | dbfd cgec | BfdB AecA | BFGA Bcde | =efgf agf_e | dbfd cgec | BfdB AecA | BFGA Bcde | =efga b2 :| |: b2 | afcA BdcB | AFAc fagf | =eceg bgeg | f=efg a2b2 | afcA BdcB | AFAc fagf | =eceg bgeg | f2a2f2 :|
THAMES HORNPIPE. AKA and see "O'Kelly's Fancy," “Ypsilanti Hornpipe.” Scottish, English; Hornpipe (whole time). B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The provenance ‘Scottish’ is simply a nod to the melody’s appearance under this title in the Kerr publications (Glasgow), although there is nothing remotely of Scottish character about it. In fact, Kerr prints it twice, with the earlier (Merry Melodies, vol. 1) printing being as an untitled hornpipe. The tune appears in the Boston music publisher Elias Howe Company's Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883) as “Ypsilanti Hornpipe,” and its possible the hornpipe may be American in origin (there was much interplay between the Kerr and Ryan collections, published around the same time). It could also have been composed in England. At any rate, it has the character of being a ‘composed’ hornpipe, i.e. a melody composed specifically for a stage production or show performance, rather than one honed by tradition.
The first measure is the same as that of "Wonder Hornpipe (The)."
