The Sailor's Hornpipe

[Red Cat Jenny]

Hadn't seen any reference to this here, but it would seem GaOP no? Can anyone verify?

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The Hornpipe was originally a crude woodwind instrument common throughout Britain in the 1700's. Small, cheaply made and not requiring any great skill to master, it was the instrument of the common folk. With the limited space aboard ships, it became popular with sailors. Later the name hornpipe became attached to a number of tunes in a particular rhythmic style, played on hornpipes, and still later the dances accompanying that style also became known as "Hornpipes". If you watch the dancer's steps you can clearly see that the steps relate to naval activities.

This dance is believed to have been invented by sailors in the English navy, as a form of exercise and as a tribute to the many tasks performed aboard their ships. Some of the activities depicted in the dance are pulling in the anchor, climbing and hauling ropes, keeping lookout, searching for land and saluting the captain. It is likely that the Sailor's Hornpipe was originally performed in barefeet on the wet deck of a ship, accompanied by the music of a tin whistle or squeezebox.

[Patrick Hand]

accompanied by the music of a tin whistle or squeezebox.

A squeezebox (or concertina) was not invented untill the 1820's

from..... http://www.hobgoblin.com/info/wayne.htm

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a new group of musical instruments arose in Europe, whose origins may be traced to the arrival of examples of the Chinese free-reed mouth organ or shengin Europe in the late eighteenth century (1). The main varieties of these new instruments were the mouth organ, developed in Germany around 1825; the accordion, patented in Vienna in 1829, and the concertina, invented by Charles Wheatstone around 1829 or 1830,initially as a scientific curiosity, but marketed from 1836 asa serious musical instrument.

So at least one part of the information is incorrect or out of period.......

[Red Cat Jenny]

Yah, I meant t' mention that. I believe that refers to it's later evolution and use. Thanks.

[Sir Eric]

accompanied by the music of a tin whistle or squeezebox.

A squeezebox (or concertina) was not invented untill the 1820's

from..... http://www.hobgoblin.com/info/wayne.htm

So at least one part of the information is incorrect or out of period.......

Agreed... unless somebody was carrying around one of these.

Which I really doubt... but still think it would be a very funny image to see one in the hands of a pirate.

[Red Cat Jenny]

HA no, I was talking about the hornpipe not the squeezebox. Didn't sailors have and play these? Which also begs the question, what other instruments would be GaOP?

[Capn_Enigma]

Which also begs the question, what other instruments would be GaOP?

- The fiddle, predecessor of the violin. Invented around the middle ages.

- Bagpipes, same age.

- The trumpet, an Old Egypt contemporary.

- The flute, invented thousands of years BC.

- The drum, about as old.

Just off the top of my mind.

[Sir Eric]

Lots of different kinds of pipes are going to be period. I think trying to find specific documentation for a specific kind of "hornpipe" will be difficult at best. I think you're looking at any number of pipes that were originally carved out of antlers and what, (Captian Obvious strikes!) so you're probably looking at hundreds of variations, if not more.

Not to mention that at about every foreign port a ship put into, there would be a new kind of wind instrument.

I would think that it would be reasonable to assume that there were some small, easy to play and maintain pipes aboard lots of sailing vessels. Probably not many with reeds, I'm guessing.

No susaphones either.

[Red Cat Jenny]

No sousaphones??!! Sir Eric..ye burst me bubble!

Well thanks for the info. I wasn't lookin to get too too specific, just had seen no reference to it, and the culture of ship life interests me. Was wonderin would one add a small musical pipe (hornpipe) to their kit to be authentic? Thanks again for the answer an the giggle~

[Patrick Hand]

Red Cat Jenny, maybe you could do a search on penny whistles..... There's a story of Ben Franklin buying one when he was a boy.... So a tin penny whistle may be really close to period.........

Or you could learn to play a fife.... they are nice and loud..........And period..... I saw one on a web page reciently for about $16.00.... I think it was one of the Rev. War suttliers.......but the design is much older.

[Red Cat Jenny]

Patrick, thanks. You led me to find the following..

Looks like the fife missed the GaOP mostly, but existed nonetheless. I love drum and fife corps. It's like bagpipes. Don't want it all the time, but it does things to ya.

The fife first appeared in the 14th century. Swiss mercenaries popularized the instrument, and for many years the fife served as the European military accompaniment for the drum. The instrument fell out of favor during the 17th century and nearly disappeared, replaced by the hautboy (an ancestor of the oboe). In the 1750s, the fife regained its popularity. By the time of the American Revolution, both British and Americans adopted it to accompany the field snare drum. The fife is a cylindrical, side-blown instrument with six finger holes and no keys. The best woods for the instrument were hardwoods (rosewood, boxwood and cocabola). It is, though, a limited instrument. Most music for the fife is limited to the keys of D, G, and A, but the high shrill sound of the instrument carries well on the field of battle, creating a spirited and inspirational sound