Yes, reels are in great profusion in Ireland, Scotland, USA, and Canada, etc. In lowland England though we seem to just speed up hornpipes or polkas when we need fast tunes, apart from Northumberland. I suspect it's more to with the spread of couple dances from across the English Channel in the Eighteenth Century, (waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, etc), since you can't argue that there are no bagpipes in England or tradition of clog step dancing that might be reliant on faster tunes. Somebody out there must have done a thesis on this surely?