Hornpipes from Undark by Cantrip
The Hosepipe, or Hornpipe, as it is more commonly known today, is a dance and musical form that is not really native to Scotland. Like the word “Celtic”, Hornpipe has become a bit of a catchall phrase; a convenient label to stick onto any melody in common time that doesn’t fall neatly into some other category.
The earliest Hornpipes on the written record come out of England in the Tudor period–for example, Hugh Aston’s Hornpype, in 1522. By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the dance and the accompanying musical form had become associated with the northeast of England and English nautical behaviour. Perhaps surprisingly, the earliest Hornpipes on record were written in 3/2 or 3/8 time rather than the base two time signatures to which they are prone at present. Tunes like The Lads of Alnwick and songs like Dance Till Thy Daddy are perhaps examples of that early, three-step Hornpipe rhythm and groove.
Whatever its provenance, and whatever nauty English activities may have been its vector, the base two Hornpipe song and dance eventually make it into Ireland and Scotland where people still compete against one another, with them, to this day.
The Shooting Star is an example of a tune that has almost retraced its developmental path after a relatively brief stop over in the US&A. Fr. Jon picked it up from a Bluegrass band from Brighton (pardon the alliteration) cried the Wild Turkey Brothers.
Web Culture is a whole ontological conundrum unto itself: It is a “Hornpipe” composed by Murray Blair, from Australia, intended to be played on a “Scottish” bagpipe. We decided, rather prophetically, to record this one mere minutes before the entire world donned its great big chastity belt.
"Their music comes from wild landscapes and wild places of the spirit." -- The Orcadian