The usual tune for this dance was first printed as the "College Hornpipe" in 1797 or 1798 by J. Dale of London. It was found in manuscript collections before then for instance the fine syncopated version in William Vickers' manuscript, written on Tyneside, dated 1770. The dance imitates the life of a sailor and their duties aboard ship. Sailors from the Royal Navy are believed to have invented the solo dance, as an exercise aboard ship. Due to the small space that the dance required, and no need for a partner, the dance was popular on-board ship.

It is likely that the Sailor's Hornpipe was originally performed on the wet deck of a ship, in bare feet. Accompaniment may have been the music of a tin whistle or, from the 19th century, a squeezebox. Samuel Pepys referred to it in his diary as "The Jig of the Ship" and Captain Cook, who took a piper on at least one voyage, is noted to have ordered his men to dance the hornpipe in order to keep them in good health^[5]. The dance on-ship became less common when fiddlers ceased to be included in ships' crew members.

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