This is one of my favorite tunes from Cole's 1000 Fiddle Tunes (Chicago, M. M. Cole, 1940), Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (Boston, Elias Howe, 1883) in an earlier incarnation. I've played this since the late 70s. In 1981 I combined it in a medley with Constitution Hornpipe (also in F) on a cassette release entitled "Traditional Fiddle Music of Missouri" (Marimac 9011) with Emily & Dennis Buckhannon on piano and guitar recorded in R. P. Christeson's music room in Auxvasse, MO, by Barry Bergey.
I rate these Victorian-era “sewing machine tunes” hornpipes and reels in F pretty in terms of melodic interest and relative ease of play. They make a good intro to playing in the flat keys. “Sewing machine tune” is an apt description for these pieces as their running 16th notes and heavy reliance on arppegios reminds one of a well-oiled apparatus of the industrial revolution. Other tunes that fit this M.O. are Hull’s Victory, The Herring Reel, Zig-Zag Hornpipe and Fisher’s Hornpipe (played in F of course).
Below is Ned Kendall’s Hornpipe as it appears in Cole’s. There is also a “Ned Kendall’s Favorite Reel” (key of D) in Cole’s. My rendition applies my own “fiddler’s sensibility” to the melody. Many of the tunes in the old collections require a little doctoring to be suitable for fiddlers.
View the complete fiddle lesson at patreon.com/charliewalden (requires free subscription) and download my notation below.
Incidentally, the video lesson is an excerpt from an episode of my livestream “Tunes@Noon”.
There are several tunes in Cole’s which are attributed to individual composers or performers from the 1800s. Edward “Ned” Kendall (1808–1861) is among these.
photo from wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Ned_Kendall)
Kendall was a prominent American brass musician, bandleader, and composer, from Rhode Island. He was known for his virtuoso cornet playing and his role in the development of early American brass band music.
Among his musical achievements were:
Pioneer of the Keyed Bugle: Kendall was one of the foremost performers on the keyed bugle, which preceded the modern valved cornet. His skill helped popularize brass solo performance in the U.S.
Bandmaster of the Boston Brass Band: He led one of the premier brass bands of the time, setting a high standard for American band music.
Early American Band Movement: Kendall helped lay the groundwork for what would become a rich American tradition of military and community bands in the mid-19th century. Think town squares and gazebos.
There’s a downloadable PDF at this URL with a more extensive biography of Kendall. Ned Kendal Bio
This video showcases the keyed bugle and the type of music which was performed in the 1800s. It would not be a huge leap to think that many of the hornpipes and reels in Cole’s (Ryan’s) had originally been composed for brass instruments. I’ll leave that for a real scholar.
Other Recordings of Ned Kendall’s Hornpipe
Jean Carignan, the fiddling legend from Quebec, recorded Ned Kendall’s in D under the title “Porteau Blanc”.
Other commercial recordings have been issued by Canadian Eleanor Townsend and Rodney Miller of New Hampshire, also set in D. A tune in Dear Old Illinois is also a version of Ned Kendall’s as played by Cecil Polley and called Rabbit in a Fodder Shock.
Howard Rains cited a rendition he learned from a Library of Congress recording of Texas fiddler Ervie Marceys who called it "an old quadrille piece that originated in Canada." He also pointed out to me that this tune is called “Old Voile” recorded by Blue Ridge Mountaineers in 1929.
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