Last year I had the rare treat of
sitting next to septuagenarian flute player Jack Coen, a guest at our local
session. Jack was originally from Woodford, east Galway,
although a resident the Bronx, N.Y., since 1948, and long
a revered senior member of the New York Irish traditional music scene. He is
one of a large musical family that includes brothers Anthony (fiddle) and
Father Charlie Coen, noted singer and concertina player, who have also been
guests at our session—all heirs to an east Galway tradition of smooth, slow and
stately playing. Jack was asked at one
point in the evening if he would play a solo air, but, characteristically shy,
he demurred and suggested a ceili dance tune instead, choosing a set called
“The Three Tunes,” which our piano player, Cyrilla, joyously launched into with
him. The set was unusual in that it is
composed not of Galway tunes, nor even originally of
Irish ones, but rather of a series of old English melodies, “Haste to the
Wedding,” “Leslie’s Hornpipe,” and “The German Beau.” The set was originally associated with County
Antrim dancing, an area of Northern
Ireland that was heavily colonized by the
English some 400 years ago, and bears derivatives of such colonization
throughout the local culture to this day.
What surprised me was how unchanged Jack’s Irish set was from the
originals, with their ‘Englishness’ still sounding clear. Each of the “Three
Tunes” has an interesting origin in Georgian era country dancing, and the first
and last may yet the subject of future articles.
The middle tune, however,
“Leslie’s Hornpipe,” yields a rather odd and fascinating history that has to do
with, of all things, the beginnings of the modern circus—seemingly about as far
removed from east Galway ceili dancing as one can imagine! In fact, there are interconnected
relationships between the early circus and several still-popular and important
fiddle tunes. So, who was the un-Irish
sounding ‘Leslie’ and what was his hornpipe?
The title “Leslie’s Hornpipe” seems to be the name
the melody was known by in Ireland
and, through Irish sources, sometimes in America,
and, not surprisingly, there was no actual ‘Leslie’. Rather, ‘Leslie’ is one of many corruptions of the original
English title “Astley’s Ride,” also known as “Drumley’s Ride” and “Ashley’s
Ride.” To further confuse the issue there was another, different, melody called
“Astley’s Hornpipe” (also called “Ashley’s Hornpipe”), and the ‘Ride’
and ‘Hornpipe’ parts of the titles seem to have been used somewhat
interchangeably over the years—but it is easy enough to see where Jack’s ceili
dance tune title derived from. All the
titles stem from circumstances surrounding a rather remarkable 18th
century personage, Philip Astley (1742-1814), who has been credited with
founding the modern circus.
Born the son of a cabinet
maker from Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Astley early on
developed a fascination with horses. At the age of seventeen he borrowed a
horse and joined the 15th Dragoons as a rough rider and horse-breaker
and was soon sent across the channel with the unit to serve under the King
of Prussia in Europe. Astley proved to be an
independent and resourceful soldier, and acquired a reputation for bravery on
and off the battlefield (he was also said to have been a sturdy six feet tall
with a booming voice). He enhanced his career by saving the life of the wounded
Duke of Brunswick, and when he was discharged from the cavalry in 1768 he was
presented with the regimental commander’s white charger, named Gibraltar,
as a present.
Philip Astley
Astley was still a young man when he returned to England,
and his civilian ambition was to start a riding school, although he lacked the
funds to go into business directly by himself. Nevertheless, he was determined,
and started by securing a position as a horse breaker with a riding school
master in the fashionable resort of Islington (which featured tea gardens and
other amusements that catered to the Georgian noble class). This and similar
resorts provided recreation for the well-to-do and attracted many riding
masters who provided public entertainment with demonstrations of skill in order
to build up a clientele. It was at Islington that Astley met and married an
accomplished horsewomen, whose name is known to us only as “Petsy.” Luck was
the vehicle for his next career move, however, when he found a diamond ring on Westminster
Bridge. The item brought him £60,
with which he bought a second horse, and he and Petsy began to give unlicensed
open-air equestrian displays at Glover’s “Halfpenny Hatch” field in Lambeth.
The hat was passed among the crowd at every performance. Luck again smiled upon
Astley when he helped King George III subdue a spirited horse, again near Westminster
Bridge, earning the reward of a
performing license.
By this time, only a year or two after his discharge
from the military, Astley was in a position launch his career. He purchased
land close to his lucky Westminster Bridge
and constructed a roped-off enclosure that he surrounded with stands, later
adding a canvas roof. For the price of admission one could sit in the stands at
his “Royal Grove,” as he called it, or, for a lesser fee, secure a standing
space. Astley’s first musical idea was to hire a drummer-boy to accompany his
act, to add punctuation to his tricks, perhaps a carry-over from his military
days. His main inspiration of this early period, however, was the realization
that a circular ring rather than a straight list would allow his audience
consistently better viewing and a more cohesive, flowing performance, and, in
addition, a larger audience could be accommodated. Best of all, Astley
discovered performing in a circular ring generated centrifugal force, an aspect
of physical science that Astley quickly harnessed for his horseback routines.
Through experimentation, he discovered the optimum diameter for the performance
ring was forty-two feet.
In 1777 Astley expanded his
equestrian show to include a strongman, Signor Colpi, and by 1780 had employed
two clowns by the name of Fortunelly and Burt, and a number of acrobats who
performed rope-vaulting tricks. He hired other noted equestrians, Miller, Griffin
and Jones, but it was Astley who remained the artistic creator and director of
the show.
The title of the melody “Astley’s Ride” refers to yet
another innovation by this talented performer. Although he was judged to be the
greatest horseman of his age, Astley was not prideful, and was able to poke fun
at himself in his work. He developed a new act, a clown character, called Billy
Buttons, or The Tailor’s Ride to Brentford, based on a popular tale of a tailor
with rather poor riding skills, who attempts to ride a horse to Brentford to
vote in an election. The tailor, acting the buffoon, has difficulty in
mounting, then falls off the horse when it starts up at a fast pace. The Billy
Buttons act became an institution at Astley’s circus (although Astley had other
of his performers learn the act after a time), and indeed it survived for a
century as an integral part of circus offerings. It is not known whether
“Astley’s Ride” was played as accompaniment to the routine, or simply a tune
whose title was associated with the comic act.
Astley-associated tunes start cropping up in
publications and fiddler’s manuscripts in the last decades of the 18th
century. “Astley’s Hornpipe” titles generally predate “Astley’s Ride” in
printed manuscripts, showing up in a number of publications of the 1790’s,
including Thompson’s 200 Favourite
Country Dances, Vol. 5 (London, 1788), Evening
Amusement (Phila., 1796), Carr’s Gentleman’s
Amusement (Phila., 1795, 1796), and several American commonplace books for
flute and violin players of around the turn of the 19th century.
Samuel Bayard found a strain of “Astley’s Ride” surviving in Pennsylvania
fiddle/fife tradition in the early 20th century, as part of a tune
he collected called “Frank Keeney.” There are several different ‘Astley’ tunes
that have survived, and it is likely that they were played at circus
performances at various times, or were otherwise associated with the showman.
Astley’s luck did stumble at
times. His Royal Grove burned in 1794, was rebuilt (as Astley’s Royal
Amphitheater) and burned again in 1803, followed by yet another rebuilding. In
1782 a former member of Astley’s company, Charles Hughes, struck out on his own
with his “Royal Circus,” much to the discomfort of his old employer, but,
undeterred, Astley at the same time opened a venue in Paris for his brand of
entertainment.
Astley’s Amphitheatre
The scene now shifts to the aforementioned
competitor Hughes, who learned his horse riding and entertaining trade with
Astley. Hughes also became a successful circus promoter, and in turn
established a reputation of his own for his ability to train first-class trick
riders. Among his many protégés was a Scotsman by the name of John Bill
Ricketts, who leant his name to one of the most famous hornpipes of all,
particularly in America,
and to whom our story now turns.
John Bill was to the North American
circus what Astley had been to England’s.
After working for Hughes and developing his craft in London
the 1780’s (where he became an accomplished horseman and performer), Ricketts
transported across the Atlantic and, in 1792,
established himself in Philadelphia, Pa. Erecting a building in that city, he began a
riding school where he started by training a group of local horses. By the
spring of the next year he was ready to give exhibitions several times a
week. Early advertisements touted an
equestrian exhibition in a ring at Ricketts’ Circus, and, taking a page from
the English circuses, he soon sought to increase his draw by featuring clowns,
comic dancers and acrobats, and a rope walker. His first clown was a man named
McDonald, and he hired Sig. and Mme. Spinacuta, a tight rope walker and an
equestrienne, respectively. Typically, performances alternated with equestrian
instruction, each stand lasting from three or four days to several months. A
handbill from May 15th, 1793,
reads:
This day, at the Circus in Market, the corner of Twelfth
Streets.
The doors will be opened at 4, and the Performance
begin at half
past Five o’clock, precisely Will be Performed—
A Great variety of EQUESTRIAN EXERCISES, By
Mr. &
Master Ricketts, Master Strobach and Mr.
McDonald, who is
just arrived from Europe.
In the course of the Entertainment, Mr.
Ricketts will introduce
several New Feats, particularly he will ride
with his Knees on
the Saddle, they Horse in full speed; and
from this position
leap over a Ribbon extended 12 feet high.
Mr. Ricketts, on a single Horse, will throw
up 4 Oranges, playing
them in the Air, the Horse in full speed.
Mr. McDonald will perform several COMIC FEATS
(Being his
First Appearance in America).
Seignior Spiracota will exhibit many
Surprizing Feats on the
Tight Rope.
The whole to conclude with Mr. Ricketts and
his Pupil in the
Attitudes of two Flying Mercuries; the Boy
pois’d on one
Foot on Mr. Ricetts’ Shoulder, whilst Mr.
Ricketts stands in
the same Manner with one Foot on the Saddle,
the Horse being
in full speed.
Those Ladies and Gentlemen who wish to
embrace the present
Opportunity
of seeing the Exercises of the Circus, are respectfully
informed, that Mr. Ricketts intends closing
it for the Season within
three Weeks from the present Time, as he is
about to take a Tour to
some other Parts of the Continent.
Tickets sold at Mr. Bradford’s Book Store,
Front street, and at the
Circus.
Box 7/6—PIT 3/9. (1)
As can be seen, the equestrian acts
were the heart of the circus. Similar to Philip Astley’s London-based circus,
Ricketts included comic acts on horseback, and he himself also astounded
audiences by dancing a hornpipe on the back of a galloping horse, somersaulting
backward on horseback, and leaping from the speeding animal and remounting in
the same spring to face the horse’s tail (2)
Increasingly successful, Ricketts expanded his
venues through the 1790’s to include New York City,
Charleston, Boston,
Hartford, Albany,
Lancaster and Montreal,
each one housed in a temporary building. Ricketts’
circus was given an initial boost by the attendance of a noted riding
enthusiast, George Washington, who patronized the exhibition when it first
opened, on April 22, 1793
(note that Philadelphia was the
country’s capital at the time). He must
have enjoyed the spectacle for the first President again patronized the circus
in January, 1797. There some
speculative reports that Ricketts was even a distant cousin of Washington’s.
LaVahn G. Hoh and William H. Rough, in their book Step Right Up: The Adventures of Circus in America (1990), claim
“The two men later went on recreational rides together and soon became good
friends, sharing among other things their uncommon love of horses. In fact, Washington
ultimately sold his favorite white charger, Old Jack, to Ricketts for $150, for
display at his circus.” (3)
A
more permanent structure for the circus was erected by John Bill in 1795,
called the “New Ampitheatre,” which incorporated both a riding ring and a
stage. Located on Chestnut Street,
just behind the famous Independence Hall, the building was a round wooden
structure that may have had a canvas roof (4).
Additional acts were added: a Master Long, a popular clown named Mr.
Sully, John Durang (of whom more below), and various other acrobats, riders and
rope walkers. At this time also, Ricketts’ younger brother Francis was a member
of the company.
An
unfinished portrait of Ricketts by the famous American painter Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)
resides in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and it has been
suggested that the artist and the equestrian met in Dublin, prior to each of
them coming to America. The portrait is incomplete as Stuart evidently became
impatient with the sitter, yet Rickett’s head appears finished, and there is a
sketch of a horse with Rickett’s hand around its muzzle.
Unfortunately,
neither Ricketts nor his circus survived long into the 19th century.
There were several rivals, of course—Nathaniel Lee opened a theatre just across
the street from Ricketts, and featured America’s
first elephant. Both Francis and John Bill had to supplement the circus draw by
producing (and sometimes acting in) more mainstream theatrical productions to
help ends meet. In December, 1799, just before the turn of the new century,
John Bill’s Philadelphia
amphitheater burned to the ground, and, further misfortune, his Greenwich
Street amphitheater was likewise destroyed at about
the same time. Desperate financial straits ensued, and, after a few attempts to
restart a touring show, Ricketts threw in the towel. His friend Durang recalled
Ricketts was “out of heart at doing business in the bodge way.” (5) Ricketts and many of this company determined
to remove to the West Indies to try their luck with the
circus among the rich plantation communities there. Fortune, however, seemed to entirely have deserted him, for
Ricketts was captured and held for a time by French privateers, and although he
was rescued, several of his company soon died from the endemic fevers which
plagued the islands. His brother Francis married a native girl, but was
incarcerated for deserting her. Ricketts had enough. He decided to retire, sell
off his remaining assets and to return to England. On the voyage home his ship was wrecked, and
the impresario drowned with everyone on board. Hoh and Rough (1990) report that
Francis was eventually released and returned to America,
where he related what had befallen his brother and the company. He returned to
performing and was recorded to have been a clown with the Boston Circus in
1810.
“Ricketts’” is one of the few original hornpipes to
survive relatively intact in American tradition that are actually played as
hornpipes (although un-dotted note renditions are also heard). Although it may have always been more popular
in the Northern states where it was frequently published in dance tune
collections, it was also fairly common in the South, and has been collected in
the Ozarks, Mississippi (as “Raker’s Hornpipe”), Alabama and Kentucky. A
version was even recorded on 78 RPM by the Irish-American group Dan Sullivan’s
Shamrock Band. “Ricketts” proved a popular enough tune to be transported back
to England, where it appears in publications and fiddlers’ manuscripts as
“Manchester Hornpipe” “The New College Hornpipe,” “The One-Eyed Fiddler,” and,
in southern England, as “Pigeon on the Gate” and “We’ll Sit Upon the
Gate.” Like Astley-named melodies,
Ricketts-tune names (“Ricketts’ Ride,” “Ricketts’ Hornpipe,” “Ricketts’
Quickstep” etc.) appear in many
American fiddlers’ manuscripts throughout the 1790’s and early 1800’s as well
as early American dance music publications, and continue to be present in the
literature throughout the 19th century and into the 20th. English versions do not appear prior to the
mid-19th century.
In seeking to present new and attractive acts for his
patrons, John Bill was constantly on the lookout for talent. In addition to the aforementioned acrobats and
clowns, one talent he hired was a dancer and thespian named John Durang, whose
name is attached to a hornpipe that rivals Ricketts’ in popularity among
fiddlers. Durang was born in York,
Pennsylania, in 1768, and was the first native-born American to win widespread
recognition as a theatrical dancer. In
fact, the versatile Durang also was at various times a dancer, singer, mime,
tightrope walker, puppeteer, scene painter, manager, and an actor (4). He made
his debut in Philadelphia in 1784
with Lewis Hallam’s company at the Southwark Theatre, and his hornpipe dancing
seems to have been an immediate success, perhaps because audiences appreciated
a native-born American performer in what was a largely English company in the
years just after the American Revolution. Durang toured with Hallam for seven
years, performing as Scaramouche in a harlequinade called The Touchstone, while dancing and playing other roles. In the 1790’s a host of European-trained
dancers appeared on American stages, and Durang’s reputation was pressed, but
he reinvented himself, and in 1794 danced an Indian Dance in an opera called
Tammany, based on the famous Native American chief. Also in 1794 he performed on the slack wire and choreographed
pantomimes. It was this last talent that
brought him to the attention of John Bill Ricketts, who hired Durang to produce
pantomimes as part of his circus, and the dancer performed in Ricketts’ Philadelphia
and New York venues from 1796 to
December, 1799. When Ricketts closed his shows, Durang returned to the
Southwark Theatre and became a partner. From 1800 to 1819 he acted, produced
and directed theater in Philadelphia
during the winter, while touring with his own company to outlying areas in the
summer. He retired from the stage in 1819 and died in Philadelphia
in March, 1822 (5).
For much of his career his hornpipe dancing was both his
and his audience’s favorite. He boasted
in his memoirs that, around 1790, he danced "a Hornpipe on thirteen eggs
blindfolded without breaking one." Durang is also credited with
popularizing the nautical-style hornpipe dance that is still thought of as the
‘Sailor’s Hornpipe’. It is the hornpipe
that bears his name for which fiddlers remember him, however, and, according to
his memoirs it was composed specifically for him by one “Mr. Hoffmaster, a
German Dwarf, in New York, 1785.”
Durang had taken violin lessons from Hoffmaster, who was all of three feet in
height and who was married to a wife of similar stature. Hoffmaster had “a large head, hands and
feet,” yet must have been an accomplished musician. The hornpipe became famous
in his own time, for Durang noted (again, in his memoirs) that it was written
“expressly for me, which is become well known in America,
for I have since heard it play’d the other side of (Pennsylvania’s)
Blue Mountains as well as in the cities.” (6) The original appears below, as given by
Durang. Professor Samuel Bayard was of the opinion that the ‘folk process’ had
been kind to the tune over the years, honing the rather banal original into a
rather more distinctive and powerful piece.
A final connection with the early circus—The tune
“Acrobat’s Hornpipe” appears in Ryan’s
Mammoth Collection (1883), but has some 20th century currency
under that title in the repertoires of such varied fiddlers as Winston
Fitzgerald of Cape Breton
and Irish fiddler Martin Mulvihill in the Bronx. It was based on a tune called the
“Nightengale Clog,” one variant of a large tune family (also set as a clog,
breakdown, schottische, etc.). The ‘Acrobat’ title came through its adaptation
by 19th century circus entrepreneur P.T. Barnum, for use in his
shows, presumably as accompaniment to acrobatic acts. It is however, one of the more widely disseminated tune families
in North America—some of the many variants of the tune family in just Old-Time
tradition include West Virginian Burl Hammond’s banjo piece “Wilson’s Clog,”
Kentucky great Ed Haley’s “Parkersburg Landing,” North Carolinian Lauchlin
Shaw’s “Rustic Dance,” Tennessee fiddler Arthur Smith’s “Peacock Rag” and
Mississippi duo Narmour and Smith’s “Limber Neck Blues”—truly a large, varied
and vibrant tune family.
Andrew Kuntz 12/15/03. Revised 08/12/05.
8
Veatch Street
Wappingers
Falls, NY 12590
aikuntz@optonline.net
Notes:
1-3. Hoh, LaVahn G. &
Rough, William H. Step Right Up: The Adventures of Circus in
America (Chapter III. New World Roots). White
Hall, Virginia: Betterway
Publications, Inc. 1990.
4-6. Downer, Alan S., ed.; The Memoir of John Durang. Historical
Society of York County/American Society for Theatre Research by University
of Pittsburg Press. 1966
X:1
T:Leslie's Hornpipe
M:C|
L:1/8
K:D
A2|d2 d2 d2 cd|e2
e2 e2 fe|dcBA B2 c2|defg agfe| d2 d2 d2 cd|e2 e2 e2 fe|
dcBA B2 c2|d4
d2::A2|f2 f2 f2 df|g2 g2 g2 ag|e2 e2 e2 de| f2 f2 fgaf|
d2 d2 d2 cd|e2 e2
e2 fe|dcBA B2 c2|d4 d2:|
X:1
T:Astley’s Ride
M:2/4
L:1/8
K:D
|: (a/f/) | dd dc/d/ | ee e(f/e/) | d/c/B/A/ Bc | d/e/f/g/ a/g/f/e/ | dd
d(c/d/) |
ee e(f/e/) | d/c/B/A/ Bc | (d2 d) :: A | ff f(e/f/) | gg g(b/g/) | ee
e(d/e/) |
ff f/g/a/f/ | dd dc/d/ | ee ef/e/ | d/c/B/A/ Bc | (d2 d) :|
X:1
R:Rickett’s Hornpipe
M:2/4
L:1/8
S:Elias Howe – Diamond
School for the Violin (c. 1861)
K:D
(3A/B/c/ | d/c/d/A/ F/A/d/f/ |e/d/c/B/ .A.g | .f/g/a/f/ g/f/e/d/ |
e/d/c/B/ A/g/f/e |
d/c/d/A/ F/A/d/f/ | e/d/c/B/ .A.g | f/a/f/d/ e/g/e/c/ | ddd :|
|: .f/.g/ | a/f/a/f/ .d(g/a/) | b/g/b/g/ .e(f/g/) | a/f/b/a/ g/f/e/d/ |
e/d/c/B/ A/g/f/e/ |
d/c/d/A/ F/A/d/f/ | e/d/c/B/ .A.g | f/a/f/d/ e/g/e/c/ | ddd :|
X:1
T:Durang’s Hornpipe
M:C
L:1/8
S:The 1785 original, from
John Durang’s memoirs
K:D
DAFA DAFA | BcdB BAGF | DAFA
DAFA | BGED DCB,A, |
DAFA DAFA | BcdB BAGF | fgaf
gedc | d2d2d2 z2 :: fgaf ecBA |
BcdB BAGF | B2B2 BAGF | GEed
dcBA | A^GAB cBcd |
e^def e^gaf | e^gbf edcB |
A^GAB A=GFE :|