"The Mountain Hornpipe", also known as "Ice on the Pumphandle", "The Mountains of Kerry", "Old Skeddadalink", "Doug's Favorite", "Douglas's Favorite Hornpipe", "Shape's Hornpipe", "Hopple's Tune", "Reel Maginot" or "Woody's Hornpipe" is an English, Irish and American hornpipe in G Major. The parts are played AABB.
This hornpipe is probably of Irish provenance (see "The Mountains of Kerry"), although it has a long history in the United States. Samuel Bayard found several versions in the repertory of southwestern Pennsylvania fiddlers and considered it to be "at least a little older" than the 1840's or 1850's. It was published by Elias Howe in Boston as early as 1851 and continued to be published in Howe's publications and later derivatives for some ninety years.
It was in the repertoires of West Virginia old-time fiddler Melvin Wine (who called it "Old Skeddadalink") and Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's). An untitled version ("Reel (26)") was published by Samuel Bayard in Hill Country Tunes (1944), collected in 1943 from the playing of David Gilpin, a southwestern Pa., fiddler.
It was printed in Bayard's Hill Country Tunes (1944), Bayard's Dance to the Fiddle (1981), Cazden's Dances from Woodland (1955), Cole's 1000 Fiddle Tunes (1940) (appears as "Douglas' Favorite"), Ford's Traditional Music in America (1940) (appears as "Doug's Hornpipe"), Hardings' Original Collection (1928), Hardings' Collection (1915), Howe's School for the Violin (1851), Howe's Diamond School for the Violin (1861), Krassen's Appalachian Fiddle (1973), O'Neill's Music of Ireland: 1850 Melodies (1903), Phillips' Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2 (1995), Raven's English Country Dance Tunes (1984) and White's Unique Collection.
It was recorded by John Baltzell (appears as last tune of "Durang Hornpipe Medley") (78 RPM) (1923), James Bryan on First of May (1986), Grant Lamb on Tunes from Home (1974), Melvin Wine on Cold Frosty Morning (1976), Sarah Singleton on Old-Time Fiddling of Braxton County (1992), Graham Townsend on Down Home Fiddling and Grant Lambon on Manitoba Fiddler (1974).