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{{Short description|Dance}}
{{About|the types of dance|the musical instrument|hornpipe (instrument)}}
[[File:The Hornpipe by Andries Dirksz Both.jpg|thumb|''The Hornpipe'' by [[Andries Both]]]]
The '''hornpipe''' is any of several dance forms and their associated tunes, played and danced in [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]] and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The dance is still performed in competition. [[George Frideric Handel]]'s hornpipe from ''[[Water Music]]'' is one of his most famous compositions.

==History==
[[File:Warspite cadets dancing the hornpipe 1928.jpg|thumb|British naval cadets dancing [[The Sailor's Hornpipe|the sailor's hornpipe]] in 1928]]
[[File:Grown Gentlemen taught to Dance (BM 1892,0714.725).jpg|thumb|150px|"Grown Gentlemen Taught to Dance" (1767) depicts the teaching of [[country dance]]. A book of hornpipes is visible at the fiddler's feet.]]
[[hornpipe (instrument)|Hornpipes]] are a class of wind instruments. One candidate for the specific hornpipe that might have leant its name to the dance is the [[Pibgorn (instrument)|pib-corn]].<ref name=Chap/>{{rp|544}} There is no clear evidence the dance was named after any instrument, and many alternative etymologies have been proposed.<ref name=ONeill/><ref name=Grove>[[Margaret Dean Smith|Dean-Smith, Margaret]]. "Hornpipe (ii)." [[The_New_Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians#Grove_Music_Online_and_Oxford_Music_Online|Grove Music Online]]. 2001. Oxford University Press.</ref>

References to hornpipes abound in literature. [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s 14th century translation of ''[[The Romaunt of the Rose]]'' mentions the hornpipe as a Cornish instrument.<ref>Chaucer, Geoffrey, and Nicolas, Nicholas Harris. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Chaucer_s_Romaunt_of_the_Rose_Troilus_an/3_FK3lmZLuIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=RA1-PA127 Chaucer's Romaunt of the Rose, Troilus and Creseide, and the Minor Poems; with life of the poet by Sir Harris Nicolas]''. William Pickering, 1846. 127.</ref><ref>Balfour, Henry. "[https://doi.org/10.2307/2842233 The Old British ‘Pibcorn’ or ‘Hornpipe’ and Its Affinities]", ''The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland'', vol. 20, 1891. 142–54.</ref>{{rp|143}} In a 1609 pamphlet titled ''Old Meg of Hereford-shire'', the hornpipe dance is described as a product of [[Lancashire]].<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1475-1640_old-meg-of-hereford-shi_goodwin-meg_1609/page/n4/mode/1up Old Meg of Hereford-shire, for a Mayd-Marian: And Hereford Towne for a Morris-daunce]''. London: John Budge, 1609. 4.</ref> [[Michael Drayton]] dwells on "Lancastrian nymphs" dancing the hornpipe in ''[[Poly-Olbion]]'' (1612).<ref>Drayton, Michael. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Complete_Works_of_Michael_Drayton_Po/HGgLAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA174&printsec=frontcover The Complete Works of Michael Drayton: Polyolbion and The harmony of the church]''. United Kingdom, J.R. Smith, 1876. 174ff.</ref><ref name="itgo.com">Inglehearn, Madeleine. "[http://chrisbrady.itgo.com/dance/stepdance/hornpipe_conference.htm The Hornpipe - 'Our National Dance']". Conference paper. Cambridge: National Early Music Association, 1993.</ref> In ''[[The King's Entertainment at Welbeck]]'' (1633), [[Ben Jonson]] describes it as a dance native to [[Nottingham]] and [[Derbyshire|Darbishire]].<ref name=Chap>Chappell, William. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_ballad_literature_and_popular_music/3IZTAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA544 The Ballad Literature and Popular Music of the Olden Time: a History of the Ancient Songs, Ballads, and of the Dance Tunes of England]'', Volume II. London: Chappel & Co., 1871.</ref>{{rp|544f}}

The hornpipe became a regular feature of English theater. Dancers would perform hornpipes between the acts of larger stage works. Many tunes were named after the dancers who performed them: Fishar's Hornpipe, Aldridge's Hornpipe, Richar's Hornpipe, Miss Baker's Hornpipe, West's Hornpipe, Durang's Hornpipe, etc.<ref name=FMJ>Emmerson, George S. "[http://www.jstor.org/stable/4521848 The Hornpipe]", ''Folk Music Journal'', vol. 2, no. 1, 1970.</ref>{{rp|26}} One of the standard dances became the "[[The Sailor's Hornpipe|sailor's hornpipe]]", where the performer would appear as [[Jack Tar]] and emulate the life aboard ship.<ref>Knowles, Mark. ''Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing''. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2002. 17.</ref> By the 19th century, the ability to dance a hornpipe was a basic part of an entertainer's toolkit.<ref>Bratton, J(acqueline). S. "[http://www.jstor.org/stable/4522342 Dancing a Hornpipe in Fetters]", ''[[Folk Music Journal]]'', vol. 6, no. 1, 1990. 82.</ref>

A legend took hold that reversed the origin of the hornpipe. In some tellings it was invented by sailors stuck in the [[Intertropical Convergence Zone|doldrums]].<ref>Tolman, Beth and Ralph Page. ''[https://archive.org/details/countrydancebook0000tolm_v5y3/page/119/mode/1up The Country Dance Book]''. Countryman Press, 1937. 119.</ref> In fact, the popular dance was adopted by sailors like [[James Cook|Captain Cook]] who recognized it as an effective exercise routine aboard ships which have limited space.<ref>[[Charles Durang|Durang, Charles]]. "[https://archive.org/details/ballroombijouart00durarich/page/19/mode/1up The Ball-room Bijou, and Art of Dancing]". Philadelphia: Fisher & Brother, 185-. 19f.</ref> It soon became a popular pastime and an official part of [[Royal Navy]] training.<ref name=rmg>"[https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/sailors-hornpipe-dance The sailor's hornpipe dance]", [[Royal Museums Greenwich]]. Accessed July 21, 2023.</ref><ref>Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. ''The Encyclopedia of World Folk Dance''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2016. 140.</ref>

[[Charles Dickens]] mentions the hornpipe in ''[[Dombey & Son]]'' and ''[[Martin Chuzzlewit]]''.<ref>Dickens, Charles. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dombey_and_Son/HYY-AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA11 Dombey and Son]''. Macmillan and Company, 1892. 11.</ref><ref>Dickens, Charles. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Works_of_Charles_Dickens/7mkWAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA77 The Works of Charles Dickens: Martin Chuzzlewit]''. Harper & Brothers, 1872. 77.</ref> He was also a skilled dancer of the sailor's hornpipe.<ref>Dolby, George. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Charles_Dickens_as_I_Knew_Him/ors_AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA34 Charles Dickens as I Knew Him: The Story of the Reading Tours in Great Britain and America (1866-1870)]''. Everett, 1912. 34.</ref> [[Thomas Hardy]] describes [[country dance]]s in the seventh chapter of ''[[Under the Greenwood Tree]]'' (1872). In a 1926 letter, he recalls that he must have had in mind the "[[The Sailor's Hornpipe|College Hornpipe]]", among other dances. He also included his notation of the hornpipe as he recalled it six decades later.<ref>MacMillan, W.E.F. "[https://www.contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS2609-TheCollegeHornpipe.html Dances Mentioned by Thomas Hardy in ''Under the Greenwood Tree'']", English Dance & Song, September 1926. 384–5.</ref><ref>Radford, Andrew. ''Thomas Hardy and the Survivals of Time''. Taylor & Francis Group, 2003. 262.</ref>

==Dance==
[[File:"The Richmond" hornpipe notation.png|thumb|[[Beauchamp-Feuillet notation]] for "The Richmond", a modified hornpipe dance (1706).<ref>Isaac, Mr, John Weaver, and James Paisible. ''[https://www.loc.gov/item/20010872 A Collection of Ball-Dances perform'd at Court]''. London: Printed for the author, and sold by J. Vaillant, 1706. Retrieved from the Library of Congress. 12ff.</ref>]]
The [[country dance]] form of the hornpipe differs from the solo [[step dance]].<ref>Wilson, Thomas. ''[https://walternelson.com/wilson-book.pdf The Complete System of English Country Dancing]''. Sherwood, Neeley and Jones, 1820. 256.</ref> Couples execute a series of steps and turns in an endless variety of combinations.<ref>Willcox, Asa. ''[https://www.libraryofdance.org/manuals/1793-Willcox-Figures_(LOC).pdf Asa Willcox's Book of Figures]''. N.p., 1793. 4f.</ref> In an 1816 dance manual, the "College Hornpipe" requires, among other movements, the "top couple to swing with the right hand round the second couple, then swing with the left hand".<ref>Wilson, Thomas. ''[https://www.efdss.org/vwml-digitised-resources/historic-dance-and-tune-books/13002-wilson1809 The Treasures of Terpsichore: Or, A Companion for the Ball-room. Being a Collection of All the Most Popular English Country Dances, Arrange Alphabetically, with Proper Figures to Each Dance]''. Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1816. 16.</ref> In the 18th century, dancing masters were widely employed to teach these dances to English gentility.<ref name=Routl>''The Routledge Companion to English Folk Performance''. Edited by Peter Harrop, and Steve Roud. Taylor & Francis Group, 2023.</ref>{{rp|278}} There are hornpipes in [[Beauchamp-Feuillet notation]].<ref>''When Men Dance:Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders''. [[Oxford University Press]], USA, 2009. 211.</ref><ref>Richard, Ralph. ''[https://archive.org/details/lifeworksofjohnw0000ralp/page/309/mode/1up The life and works of John Weaver: an account of his life and theatrical productions, with an annotated reprint of his complete publications]''. London, Dance Books, Ltd. 309.</ref>  

Solo hornpipes were typically danced with folded arms as a display of strength. One dance historian described the posture as a demonstration of the English spirit, "The upper part of the body is kept in a state of calm repose, while the lower limbs are executing the most complicated, rapid, and difficult move-ments. Is not all this typical of an ideally English trait? To appear calm and collected amid circumstances calculated to induce a condition of physical and mental agitation."<ref>Scott, Edward. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dancing_as_an_Art_and_Pastime/-EtJAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA111 Dancing as an Art and Pastime]''. G. Bell and sons, 1892. 113.</ref>

A travelogue from 1798 described hornpipes being danced at a ball in [[Wales]], "The ball was concluded by a contest of agility between two brothers, who danced two distinct hornpipes with so much power and muscle, variety of step and inflexible perseverance, as exceeded everything we had seen."<ref>Jaffé, Nigel Allenby. ''[https://archive.org/details/folkdanceofeurop0000alle/page/293/mode/1up Folk Dance of Europe].'' Folk Dance Enterprises, 1990. 294f.</ref> A typical response from female dancers would be something like a [[cotillion]].<ref>[[Joseph Palmer (writer)|Budworth, Joseph]]. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Fortnight_s_Ramble_to_the_Lakes_in_Wes/fXEfAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA25&printsec=frontcover A Fortnight's Ramble to the Lakes in Westmoreland, Lancashire, and Cumberland]''. London: [[John Nichols (printer)|John Nichols & Son]], 1810. 25.</ref> 
===Competition===
In competition, the hornpipe is a hard shoe dance, which enables judges to hear the steps.<ref>Wulff, Helena. ''Dancing at the Crossroads: Memory and Mobility in Ireland''. Berghahn Books, 2008. 95.</ref> In Ireland, the dance is traditionally performed by men. Dancers will use slower tempi to show off their virtuosity.<ref>Foley, Catherine E. ''Step Dancing in Ireland: Culture and History''. [[Taylor & Francis]], 2016. 234f.</ref> [[An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha]] requires a minimum [[tempo]] in competition of 76 beats per minute, and the standard tempo is 113 bpm.<ref>[https://www.clrg.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/CLRG_Rules_V3_Sept2025.pdf Official Rulebook For Teachers and Adjudicators], V.3. [[An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha]], September 2025.</ref>

==Music==
Hornpipes were originally in triple meters like {{music|time|3|2}}, {{music|time|6|2}}, {{music|time|9|4}}, or {{music|time|9|8}}.<ref name=ONeill>O'Neill, Francis. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Irish_Folk_Music/QggtAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA299&printsec=frontcover Irish Folk Music: A Fascinating Hobby, with Some Account of Allied Subjects Including O'Farrell's Treatise on the Irish Or Union Pipes and Touhey's Hints to Amateur Pipers]''. Regan Printing House, 1910.</ref> In 1776, [[John Hawkins (author)|John Hawkins]] explained, "The measure of the Hornpipe is triple time of six crotchets in a bar, four whereof are to be beat with a down, and two with an up hand."<ref>Hawkins, John. ''A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, A New Edition, with the Author's Posthumous Notes''. Volume II. London: Novello, 1853. 705.</ref> 

In 1853, [[William Stenhouse]] enthused that tunes like "Wee Totum Fogg", "The Dusty Miller", "Go to Berwick, Johnnie", "Mount your Baggage", "Robin Shure in Har'est" have been played in Scotland "time out of mind".<ref>Stenhouse, William. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Illustrations_of_the_Lyric_Poetry_and_Mu/4npWAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA456 Illustrations of the Lyric Poetry and Music of Scotland]''. [[Blackwood (publishing house)|William Blackwood and Sons]], 1853. 456.</ref> Tunes that were catalogued in the 18th century in collections like the [[William Dixon manuscript]] remained virtually unchanged when transcribed by 20th century practitioners like [[Tom Clough]].<ref>Seattle, Matt. "[https://lbps.net/j3site/index.php/common-stock/archive-issues/78-december-1997/263-interview Interview:  Jock Agnew]", ''Common Stock''. The Lowland and Border Pipers' Society.  December 1997. 23–32.</ref>

By the time [[John Playford]] was anthologizing hornpipes in collections like ''Apollo's Banquet'' (1669), the melodies could be categorized into subgenres like bagpipe-hornpipes, jig-hornpipes, or hornpipe-jigs. An important feature of hornpipes were the divisions in the tune which enabled repetition and variation.<ref name=Chap/>{{rp|544}} A {{music|time|9|8}} hornpipe, or [[slip jig]], like "Mad Moll" went through several manifestations. It turns up in [[John Gay]]'s [[ballad opera]] ''[[Polly (opera)|Polly]]'' (1729). It was anthologized twice in ''[[The Dancing Master]]'', once as "Mad Moll" and again as "The Virgin Queen".<ref name=Chap/>{{rp|603f}}

{{listen|filename=Handel's Water Music - 12. Alla hornpipe - Chamber Orchestra - United States Marine Band.opus|title="Alla hornpipe" from G.F. Handel's ''Water Music'', United States Marine Band|description="Alla hornpipe" from G.F. Handel's ''Water Music'', United States Marine Band}} The hornpipe was often used in [[Suite_(music)#Dance_suite|dance suites]] by [[Baroque music|Baroque composers]] like [[Guillaume de Morlaye]], [[Antony Holborne]], [[William Byrd]], and [[Thomas Arne]].<ref name=Grove/>  [[Hugh Aston]]'s Hornepype of 1522 is one of the earliest known examples of a composer writing for the dance form. [[Henry Purcell]] and [[George Frideric Handel]] composed hornpipes and considered the rhythm as characteristically English.<ref name=Rantin>Emmerson, George S. ''Rantin' Pipe and Tremblin' String : A History of Scottish Dance Music''. McGill-Queen's University Press, 1971.</ref>{{rp|119–20}} 

Purcell's "Hornpipe No. 8" from the incidental music for ''[[Abdelazer]]'' (1695) was anthologized by Playford.<ref>Holman, Peter, and White, Bryan. ''The Purcell Compendium''. Boydell & Brewer, Limited, 2025. 49.</ref> The hornpipe also provided the vehicle for one of classical music's most famous melodies in Handel's ''[[Water Music (Handel)|Water Music]]'' (1717).<ref>Buelow, George J. ''A History of Baroque Music''. Indiana University Press, 2004. 496.</ref> The movement is titled "Alla Hornpipe", a marking Handel also used in ''[[Semele (Handel)|Semele]]'' (1744).<ref name=Grove/> By that time, hornpipes had become shorthand for carefree quirkiness in classical music.<ref>Hogwood, Christopher. ''Handel: Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks''. [[Cambridge University Press]], 2005. 26f.</ref>

By the 19th century, the hornpipe definitively evolved into common time ({{music|time|4|4}}) and its variants.<ref name=Chappell>Chappell, William. ''[https://archive.org/details/popularmusicofol02chapuoft/page/740/mode/1up Popular Music of the Olden Time: A Collection of Ancient Songs, Ballads, and Dance Tunes, Illustrative of the National Music of England, Volume II]''. Cramer, Beale, & Chappell, 1855. 740f.</ref> "[[The Sailor's Hornpipe]]" is the most widely known melody from this latter style. Its even rhythm is distinct from the dotted rhythms of hornpipes like "The Harvest Home". A hybrid of these two rhythms became known as the "Newcastle Style".<ref>Haigh, Chris. "http://www.fiddlingaround.co.uk/english/index.html English Fiddle]", ''Fiddling Around the World''. Accessed August 19, 2017.</ref> 

Many hornpipes were written during the 19th century, like "The Groves" and "The Boys of Bluehill" in Ireland.<ref name=ONeill/>{{rp|23, 41}} The fiddler-publican  [[James Hill (folk musician)|James Hill]] was a noted English composer of hornpipes.<ref>Bartram, Chris. ''English Fiddle''. [[Mel_Bay#Mel_Bay_Publications|Mel Bay Publications]], 2011. 16.</ref> After the [[Assassination of James A. Garfield|assassination of President James A. Garfield]] in 1881, a hornpipe was written in his honor.<ref>"[https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:President_Garfield%27s_Hornpipe President Garfield's Hornpipe]", [[The Traditional Tune Archive]]. Accessed October 31, 2025.</ref>

==See also==
{{colbegin}}
*[[Egg dance]]
*[[Reel (dance)]]
*[[Jig]]
*[[Polka]]
*[[Mazurka]]
*[[Slide (tune type)]]
*[[Highland fling]]
*[[Schottische]]
*[[Strathspey (dance)]]
*[[The Sailor's Hornpipe]]
*[[Waltz]]
{{colend}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
*Offord, John. ''John of the Green: The Cheshire Way: The Famous Triple-Time Hornpipes of North West England, with a Selection of Country Dance Tunes of the Baroque Era''. Green Man Music, 2008.
*Stewart, Pete. "[https://lbps.net/j3site/index.php/repertoire/extended-essays/985-the-triple-time-hornpipe-public?showall=1 The Triple-time Hornpipe Introduction]", ''[[Lowland and Border Pipers' Society]]''.

;Bibliographies
*[https://insteprt.co.uk/bibliography/ Bibliography on Step and Clog Dancing], Instep Research Team.
*"[https://www.efdss.org/images/present/Docs/Library/ClogBibliography.pdf Dance & Clog Bibliography]", [[English Folk Dance and Song Society]].

== External links ==
;Scores
*[http://www.farnearchive.com/ Folk Archive Resource North East], a repository of material including the [[Henry Atkinson manuscript]].
*[https://imslp.org/wiki/A_Hornepype_(Aston%2C_Hugh) Hugh Aston, "A Hornepype"] at IMSLP.
*[https://imslp.org/wiki/Polly_(Gay%2C_John) John Gay, ''Polly''] at IMSLP.
*[https://imslp.org/wiki/Apollo's_Banquet_(Playford%2C_John) John Plaford, ''Apollo's Banquet''] at IMSLP.
*[http://www.cpartington.plus.com/Links/Three%20Collections/Three%20Collections%20Info.html Transcriptions by Chris Partington]:
::Thomas Marsden, ''A Collection of Original Lancashire Hornpipes Old and New'' (1705)
::John Walsh, ''The Third Book of the most celebrated jiggs'' (1731)
::Daniel Wright, ''An Extraordinary Collection of Pleasant & merry Humours'' (1713)

;Videos
{{music|time|3|2}} hornpipe:
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC1at92jfvo Hole In The Wall Medieval Dance SCA Endewearde Shire Revel]. A modern rendition of Purcell's Hornpipe "Hole in the Wall" (1698) in Playford's ''Dancing Master''.

{{music|time|4|4}} hornpipes:
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4DUT_ctFKQ Clogfest 2007 Lancashire Wallopers], performing Sam Sherry's Hornpipe.
*[https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/video/college-hornpipe.html College Hornpipe], Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYvU7oBBgKA John Cullinane, from County Cork step dancing the Liverpool Hornpipe], 1963.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcyV2rmiYD8 Sailor's Hornpipe], Highland Dance Boston, 2007. 

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