A collection of Irish Hornpipes, speciailly arranged for solo Guitar. Easy to Advanced Level
1.
Bonapart Crossing the Rocky Mountains
"Bonaparte Crossing the Rocky Mountains" is probably an Amercanisation of several European titles of this piece: "Bonaparte Crossing the Alps", "Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine" and "Bonaparte's March." It almost certainly was written to commemorate a real historic event—Bonaparte was involved in the Rhine campaign of 1796 and crossed the Alps in May, 1800. The hornpipe remains popular throughout Britain, Ireland and North America.
"President Garfield's Hornpipe" is named after the 20th President of the United Staes, who was assassinated in 1881 after just five months in office. It appears in the Boston publication "Ryan's Mammoth Collection," where it is credited to Harry Carleton. According to the Traditional Tune Archive, it became one of the more popular tunes from Ryan's collection, being a staple at New England dances. It also has been widely disseminated in the past century and a half, becoming a popular hornpipe, for example, among Maritime Canadian fiddlers.
"Byrne's Hornpipe" (aka "The Byrne", "Byrnes", "Cornphíopa Uí Bhrion" and "Crannciuil Ui Broin") is of unknown authorship but almost certainly originated in Ireland—it is recorded in O'Neill's Music of Ireland, published in 1903, though the tune is doubtless much older. It has been commercially recorded at least 15 times since the 1960s and remains a popular melody amongst traditional musicians.
