A "horse-courser" according to the internet is someone that runs horses or keeps horses for racing. There's a horse-courser character in Doctor Faustus by Marlowe, although not as appealing or sympathetic a character as this tune conjures up for me.

The two pictures are, firstly, an anatomical diagram of the famous 18th-century racehorse Eclipse (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/eclipse-famous-racehorse-gambling) and secondly, of a man (maybe a horse-courser?) leading a Neapolitan horse (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neapolitan_horse#/media/File:Neapolitanhorse.jpg).

The John Buttrey manuscript itself is one of the most fascinating - enormous and lavishly illustrated, it gives a rare technicolour glimpse into social music-making of its era: https://buttreymilitarysocialtunes1800.wordpress.com/

Another tune that I think deserves to be back with us in the 21st century.

Jack The Horse-Courser H&H 02 12 2022

These are two 3/2 hornpipes – in fact, the first ones I ever heard. I got the album “On Reflection” for my birthday at some point during my teens (thanks mum), and when I heard Eliza Carthy and Martin Green’s arrangement of this set I was amazed. It expanded my understanding of what English trad music could be, as well as introducing me to the complex interweaving patterns of 3/2 hornpipes. (They also released a different recording of this set on their 2001 album “Dinner”).

Both of these tunes appear in Daniel Wright’s pithily-named “An Extraordinary Collection of Pleasant and Merry Humour's, never before published, Containing Hornpipe's, Jigg's, North Cuntry Frisks, Morris's, Bagpipe Hornpipe's & Round's, with Severall Additional fancis added, fit for all those that play Publick.” (1713) - a title which suggests something like an 18th-century fakebook.

Carthy and Green’s arrangement adds a dronal introduction, an alternative C section in Daniel Wright’s, and changes the modality of A Bagpipe Hornpipe from minor to major. All very inspired moves in my opinion!

In the first clip you can clearly hear Robyn’s fat bassline.

The shifty looking fellow playing the pipes is The Bagpiper by Abraham Bloemaert, and the other painting is a still life by Elias van Nijmegen depicting various baroque instruments including bagpipes.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abraham_Bloemaert_-_The_Bagpiper_-_WGA02274.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elias_van_Nijmegen_Baroque_Instruments.png

https://www.mustrad.org.uk/reviews/3hpe_col.htm

Daniel Wright's Hornpipe - A Bagpipe Hornpipe H&H 02 12 2022

These two fantastic hornpipes come from the John Baty manuscript (c1850-1860). It's actually anonymous, but was a one point owned by Baty.

Given the complexity and detail of a lot of these tunes, as well as other details in the manuscript, it was obviously the collection of a competent working musician.

It seems to have come from the Tyneside area, and there are a lot of hornpipes that are characteristic of the "Newcastle style", including several by the famous Newcastle fiddler James Hill.

These two tunes also remind me of Brazilian choro.

Images:
TWAM - Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Clarnett Hornpipe - Skate Hornpipe H&H 02 12 2022

Two of our tunes are English "Country Dances" first found in dance books from the 1700s. The Brick Makers later became a reel as well. These kinds of tunes share a family tree with French contredanse, Cuban contradanza, and later forms of music in South America that draw influence and inspiration from Cuban contradanza/habanera. I love learning about these international connections, and I thought it was time to bring these two gems into contemporary repertoire, drawing inspiration from the journey that has occurred in the meantime.

The Brick Makers - The Alderman's Hat 02 12 2022

Tom Mellin's is a 3/2 hornpipe from Thomas Marsden's "A Collection of Lancashire Hornpipes Old and New" published in 1705. This is one of those tunes for me that, like Jack the Horse-Courser, takes a simple but brilliant musical idea and gets it just right, with no padding. It also leaves plenty of space for musicians to explore, interpret and improvise.

This kind of hornpipe has a particular association with Lancashire. I can also imagine dancers working themselves into mesmeric states, transported by the repeating motifs and henbane beer.

Images:
Rose and Trev Clough / Lancashire County Hall, Preston (Geograph, Wikimedia Commons), modified by me

Andy Hay, Pendle Hill https://www.flickr.com/photos/andyhay/10643701436 (CC BY 2.0), modified by me

"De metaphysico macrosmi...ortu", Fludd, 1617, Wellcome Images, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia; https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/%22De_metaphysico_macrosmi...ortu%22%2C_Fludd%2C_1617_Wellcome_L0013219EB.jpgCommons, modified by me

Tom Mellin's H&H 02 12 2022

Nancy From London

Cuckoo's Nest - Sportsman's Hornpipe

The Staffordshire Hornpipe was collected in 1909 by Cecil Sharp from the gypsy fiddler John Locke. Here is the original tune he wrote down: https://www.vwml.org/search?q=John%20Locke%20Sharp&is=1

In the picture we have a Staffordshire oatcake (recipe here for those who are interested: https://www.food.com/recipe/staffordshire-oatcakes-traditional-english-hotcakes-pancakes-421079).

Also, pottery kilns - a very famous sight in Staffordshire. At the back is the impressive opening of Thor's Cave, a dramatic geographical formation in the Staffordshire countryside.

Staffordshire Hornpipe

Shem Fillmore - mandolin
Alice Mary Jelaska - clarinet
Robyn Hemmings - double bass
Simon Roth - percussion

Tom Mellins @ Huntsman & Hounds 17/03/2023

Shem Fillmore - violin
Alice Mary Jelaska - clarinet
Robyn Hemmings - double bass
Stefano Ancora - percussion

Tite Smith's @ Lambstock 2023

Barcelona @ Lambstock 2023

Tom Mellins @ Lambstock 2023

A fantastic country dance tune from Johnson's 8th volume. It probably refers to the Golden Cross Inn which used to be in Charing Cross. It had a long history, famous or notorious depending on who you asked. It featured in the Pickwick Papers and David Copperfield, and also riled the Puritans in the 1600s.

It was eventually demolished in 1830 to make way for Trafalgar Sqaure, so its footprint is currently in an area of empty space near the crossroads.

https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Golden_Cross_(The)

The Golden Cross at the Huntsman & Hounds 20/08/23

My mum used to play a tune called "Sally in Our Alley" (I think!) a very long time ago with a wind band. I was excited to come across a tune of that name many years later while looking through books of English trad tunes.

Turns out it's not the same tune, but the original character had entered popular mythology and been turned into a film starring Gracie Fields in 1931. The song used for the movie was by Leo Towers, Harry Leon and Will E. Haines, who had happened to write a song called "Sally" at around the same time.

The original was by Henry Carey in 1725. However, the original tune was hardly ever used because most people found it too hard to sing. It's making a long-overdue return with my quartet. I wanted it to be like the folky equivalent of a jazz standard, and I think it's come out really well.

Shem Fillmore

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