Library

Sailor's Hornpipe

Traditional

Style
Bluegrass
Tradition
English hornpipe ('College Hornpipe'), recorded by Monroe
Form
Hornpipe
Key
G
Level
4
Played on
Fiddle

In the public domain. Source

Music

90bpm

Click any note to start from there

History

Its original name is "The College Hornpipe," printed in London by J. Dale around 1797 and in Philadelphia by Benjamin Carr in 1796. It took the sailor name from the stage hornpipe, danced in sailor's costume, which was a theater favorite through the 18th century. The sailor link stuck, and the tune became the theme for the Popeye cartoons. Bill Monroe recorded it in 1963 with Bill Keith on banjo.

Read more on the Traditional Tune Archive