(From the Fiddler’s Companion)
One of the most popular hornpipes in the Scottish Repertoire, it was fashioned by 19th century fiddler James Hill (c. 1815-c. 1860), a noted composer of hornpipes who lived in Gateshead, Northumberland, England (near Newcastle), though born in Dundee, Scotland. Little is known about his life, although he seems to have been a sometime publican, and was a popular tavern fiddler and sports enthusiast.  The “High Level Hornpipe” was apparently first published in Kohlers’ Violin Repository, Book 1.

The piece is named after Newcastle’s famous bridge across the River Tyne linking Newcastle and Gateshead, the first important rail crossing in Britain designed to carry more than two tracks.  It was begun in 1846, opened in 1849 and replaced a bridge that had been built in 1781. The High Level, designed by Robert Stephenson, was based on a series of cast iron bowstring arches springing from tall stone piers; each of the six main spans stretched for 125 feet, the length of the whole being 1,372 feet, well over a quarter of a mile.  It was a marvel of the age, and so splendid that Queen Victoria herself performed the opening ceremonies. A two-tier structure, it allowed three railway lines were carried on the upper deck, while pedestrians, horses and carriages traffic travelled on the road beneath. The bridge has survived almost unaltered since then, apart from the removal of two of its railway lines and some strengthening in 1922 to enable trams to pass safely across.