Durang's Hornpipe

Comment by Ian Bell on September 16, 2013 at 6:57pm

Yaay....One of my favourite old tunes! Nicely done too. If you want some interesting reading, look up who John Durang was. A fancy dancer/musician/actor in the late 18th century who (among other things) presented an opera with shadow puppets during the Revolutionary War because full scale productions were banned for the duration. He also toured new England and up into Canada with J.B. Ricketts "Father of the American Circus" (and subject of the equally famous "Ricketts Hornpipe". Durang's Hornpipe was supposedly composed in the 1780s or so by a German dwarf named Hoffmeister, who lived in Philadelphia. Durang's son was the first person to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" in public. I may not have this 100% correct - but I'm not making any of it up. Just puttin' it out there.

Comment by Al Smitley on September 16, 2013 at 7:32pm

Didn't one of them perform a dance routine on horseback in the circus?

Comment by Nicholas A Bechtel on September 16, 2013 at 8:48pm

Awesome..Jeez I wish he had rainy days out here, too much sun and I am fried. Great tune Tim..getting me in the mood for Fall,..for some reason. I think I like the idea of hunkering down on those blustery days and hashing out tunes!

Comment by Tim Twiss on September 16, 2013 at 9:49pm

Yea....you don't feel bad about staying in.

Comment by Strumelia on September 16, 2013 at 9:55pm

Yes that's what we did the other day- a sunday, rainy, cold, damp.  Stayed in and played tunes, made pancakes and drowned them in maple syrup.   :)

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