BULLY OF THE TOWN. Old-Time, Country Rag and Song Tune. USA; Georgia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Missouri, northeast Tenn. G Major. Standard. AABB. The song "Bully of the Town" was originally written by Charles E. Trevathan (a southern sports writer, horse judge and amateur musician) in 1895 for the stage show "The Widow Jones" which opened at the Bijou Theater, New York City that September. It was sung in the production by Trevathan's girl-friend, May Irwin. "Bully of the Town" is mentioned as one of the frequently played tunes in a 1931 account of a LaFollette, northeast Tennessee fiddlers' contest. It was in the repertoire of Skillet Licker fiddler Clayton McMichen (Ga.) who recorded the tune with that group in a triple fiddle version at their first recording session in 1926. Musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph recorded the tune from Ozark Mountain fiddlers for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's.
**
John Garst finds that the song "Bully of the Town" was developed from an earlier blues ballad called "Ella Speed," based on a real-life incident in New Orleans in the middle years of the "Gay 90's." Garst relates that in September, 1894, Ella was a twenty-eight year old black or mullato prostitute living in a "sporting house" on what is now Iberville Street in the French Quarter. She was the object of the obsessive attentions of Louis "Bull" Martin or Martini, a bartending white Italian-American whom she had met several months previously at another establishment, and who wanted to set her up in an apartment as his mistress, a not uncommon arrangement at the time. Ella, however was lukewarm to him-she liked his money, but didn't care much for the man-and at any rate, she already had a husband, one Willie Speed. Louis was a bully who had been arrested and tried on three separate occasions on assault and battery charges, and who at the time of the murder was wanted by the constable for yet another brutal beating, that of an elderly black man near his place of work. Louis reportedly became enraged at the thought that she might be fond of another man (whether Willie or not). One night, after a day spent recreating, dining and drinking, they returned late to the bordello in which she was staying and, feeling the effects of their partying, retired at around 2:00 AM. The next time Ella was seen was in the morning when she screamed and emerged from her second story room, saying "Help me, Miss Pauline!, Louis shot me!" She collapsed in the hallway, just as the onrushing Madame spied Louis in the doorway, holding a smoking pistol. Louis disappeared, and soon a deputy arrived followed by an ambulance; but too late, for Ella had been shot through the breast with the bullet piecing her heart, left lung and liver, from which wounds she soon bleed to death.
**
A manhunt was raised to find Louis, who after a day turned himself in at the residence of a police Captain. He was arrested, held and charged with murder. After a trial a jury found him guilty of manslaughter, despite Louis's claim the shooting was an accident, and if Louis had counted on getting off easy with the reduced finding he was mistaken, for Judge John H. Ferguson (originally from Massachusetts) sentenced him to twenty years in prison, which Garst says was a stiff sentence for the time.
**
Garst thinks that the song "Ella Speed" appeared soon after the initial shooting and was based on newspaper accounts. "Ella Speed" appears in the collected papers of John A. Lomax (in a Texas version from 1909) and Carl Sandburg included it in his volume American Songbag (1927). Under the title "Bill Martin and Ella Speed," it was recorded several times by Leadbelly between 1933 and 1950, and in fact was recorded by several blues performers, including Mance Lipscomb, Tom Shaw, Tricky Same, Finious Rockmore, Lightnin' Hopkins and Jewel Long (as researched by John Cowley). Garst bases his hypothesis that "Ella Speed" was the model for "Bully of the Town" on three points: 1) the fact that "Bully" appeared a year or two after the "Ella" song, 2) the fact that Louis was a bully and the subject of a massive police hunt, as intimated in both songs, and 3) the similarity between the melodies of "Ella" and "Bully." He believes Trevathan heard "Ella Speed" from a black musician friend named Cooley, and that Trevathan substantially rewrote it, ending up with "Bully of the Town" (Trevathan gave several accounts of how he came to write the song).
**
Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 26. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 96, pg. 34. County 526, "The Skillet Lickers, Vol. 1" (1973. Orig. rec. 1926). Gennett 6447 (78 RPM), 1928, Tweedy Brothers (W.Va. brothers Harry, Charles, and George who played twin fiddles and piano). Marimac 9017, Vesta Johnson (Mo.) - "Down Home Rag." Rounder Records, Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers - "The Kickapoo Medicine Show" (appears as the 4th tune of the Kickapoo Medecine Show skit). Tradition TLP 1007, Etta Baker - "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians" (1956).
T:Bully of the Town
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Viola "Mom" Ruth - Pioneer Western Folk Tunes (1948)
K:G
D|D[GB][G>B>][GB]|[GB] [G2B2] [GB]|[GB][GB][G_B][G=B]|
G3F|[CE][C2E2][CE]|[Ge][G2e2][Ge]|cc c/B/A|(F2 F)(F/E/)|
D d3 ^c/=c/|ccBA|(G4|G3)||
|:(B/c/)|(d2 d)(3c/d/^d/|ed AB|c2 cA|F3 (A/B/)|(c2 c)(3B/c/^c/|
dc A_B|=B2 BG|D3G|(B2 B)(3A/B/c/|(d2 d)(3c/d/^d/|eecA|
E3_E|D d3 ^c/=c/|ccBA|(G4|G3:|
CAPTAIN JINKS/JINX. AKA and see "Down the Ohio." American (originally), Canadian; Single Jig and Air. USA; Pa., New York State: Canada, Ottawa Valley. G Major (Bronner, Ford, Guntharp, Roche, Shaw): D Major (Bayard, Begin, Phillips, Sweet). Standard. AB (Begin, Shaw, Sweet): AAB (Guntharp, Phillips): ABB (Bayard): AABB (Bronner, Ford, Roche). The title is taken from a popular song of the 19th century, "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines," which Sigmund Spaeth (A History of Popular Music in America) states was composed by an English music hall singer named William Horace Lingard who came to America in 1871. Confirming that Lingard wrote the lyrics, Denes Agay (Best Loved Songs of the American People, pgs. 156-157) however, credits the music to a T. Maclagan. Musicologist Sam Bayard (1991) traces the tune "ultimately (and indirectly)" back to a piece called "The Mill Mill O," a commonly printed and played duple time march from the 18th and early 19th centuries, and to the jig "Merrily Danced the Quaker('s Wife)," one of which was derived from the other. Another researcher cited by Bayard traces the melodic material in these tunes all the way back to 14th century plain-chant, although Bayard himself does not confirm or deny that line of thinking. He does believe that the mid-19th century tune known as "Captain Jinks" (and also the melody "Hundred Pipers") is an offshoot of the first part of the Mill air, via "The Quaker's Wife." It was listed as having been commonly played in the Orange County, N.Y. area for dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly, pgs. 211-215), about the same time Bayard collected the melody from western Pennsylvania sources, and Norman Cazden collected it from Catskill Mountian, N.Y. dances of the era. The original words to the song begin:
***
I'm Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines,
I feed my horse on corn and beans,
And often live beyond my means,
Tho a captain in the army.
***
Bronner (1987) notes that the lyrics reinforce the tune's connection to dancing:
***
I teach young ladies how to dance,
How to dance, how to dance,
I teach young ladies how to dance,
For I'm the pet of the army.
***
Bruce E. Baker communicates that he finds reference to the tune in WPA-collected narratives from 1937 with former slaves in South Carolina (reprinted in Edmund L. Drago's Hurrah For Hampton: Black Red Shirts in South Carolina During Reconstruction, Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1998, pg.100). One interviewee, Charley Barber, born near Winnsboro, Fairfield County, South Carolina, remembered the piece from his slavery days. He recalled "Captain Jenks" (sic) thus:
***
A tune was much sung by de white folks on de place and took wid de
niggers. It went lak dis:
'I'm Captain Jenks of de Horse Marines
I feed my horse on corn and beans.
Oh! I'm Captain Jenks of de Horse Marines
And captain in de army!'"
***
Sources for notated versions: Floyd Woodhull, 1976 (New York State) [Bronner]; Archie Miller (Lewisburg, Pa.) [Guntharp]; Walter Neal (Armstrong County, Pa., 1952) [Bayard]; Don Woodcock [Phillips]; caller George Van Kleek (Woodland Valley, Catsekill Mtns., New York) [Cazden]; fiddler Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ottawa Valley, Ontario) [Begin]. Adam, No. 11. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 596, pg. 523-524. Begin (Fiddle Music in the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 69, pg. 79. Bronner (Old Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 17, pg. 80. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 16. Cazden, 1955; pg. 15. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 120. Guntharp (Learning the Fiddler's Ways), 1980; pg. 77. Kraus, pg. 65. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 361. Roche Collection, 1982; Vol. 2, pg. 23, No. 249. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 379. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 19. Victor 36401A (78 RPM), Woodhull's Old Tyme Masters, 1941.
X:1
T:Captain Jinks
L:1/8
M:6/8
S:Shaw - Cowboy Dances
K:G
B2D D^CD|E2D G2B|A2c E2F|G2A B3|B2D D^CD|E2D G2B|
A2c E2F|G3G3||c2c ccc|c2B B3|B2A A3|A2G G3|c2c ccc|
c2B B3|B2A AB^c|d3 d3||
X:2
T:Captain Jinks
L:1/8
M:6/8
K:D
f2d ABA|{B/c/}(B2A) [D2d2]f|efg (B2c)|(d2e)(f2g)|aba A>AA|
[D2B2]A d2 (3fgf|efg (B2c)|e2[Dd] [Dd]Ad||[B3g3] [Bg]ag|
(f2d) Adf|e^de ede|fdB B/c/BA|[B3g3] gag|(f2d) f>gf|e>^de e>f^g|
a>ba (ag)||
CAPTAIN JOHN WHITE. Irish, Jig. Front Hall FHR-024, Fennig's All-Star String Band - "Fennigmania" (1981. Learned from the McCusker Brothers Ceili Band).
CAPTAIN WHITE('S JIG) [1]. Irish, English, Canadian; Jig and Country Dance Tune. D Major ('A' and 'C' parts) & A Major ('B' part). Standard. ABC (Kerr): AABC (Kennedy, Messer & Raven): AABCC (Miller). Donegal fiddlers play the tune as an untitled single jig, according to Caoimhin Mac Aoidh. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 83, pg. 41. Kerr (Merry Melodies), c. 1875, Vol. 1; No. 9, pg. 28. Messer (Way Down East), 1948; No. 76. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 134, pg. 88. Miller & Perron (Irish Traditional Fiddle Music), 1977; Vol. 2, No. 58. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 109. Blarney Castle Records BC-507, "Ceili Bands of Ireland."
T:Captain White
R:Jig
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:D
DFA d2f|edc B2d|A2d F2B|AGF EFE|\
DFA d2f|edc B2d|A2d F2B|1 ABc dAF:|2 ABc d3||\
efe A2f|ece a2f|efe dcB|A2B c2d|\
efe A2f|ece a2f|efe dcB|1 ABA c2d:|2 ABA GFE||\
D2f fef|d2A AFG|A2f fef|g2f edB|\
A2f fef|d2A AFA|Bcd ecA|d2A GFE:||
CAPTAIN WHITE [2]. English, Jig. D Major. Standard. ABC. The melody is not related to version #1, however, Seattle suggests it may have been an alternative tune for a dance of the same name. Source for notated version: a c 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 99, pg. 40.
CUCKOO'S NEST [14] (Nead na Cuaiche" or "Nead an Cuaic"). See "Cuckoo Hornpipe." AKA and see "All Around," "Captain Moss's," "Come Ashore," "Come Ashore, Jolly Tar, With Your Trousers On," "Coo Coo's Nest," "I do confess thou art sae fair," "Jacky Tar" (Hornpipe), "The Mower," "The Mountain Top," "An Spealadoir" (The Mower), "The Trowsers On," "The Yellow Heifer." British Isles, Old-Time, Bluegrass; Hornpipe, Reel, Breakdown. D Major (Brody, Carlin {setting #1), Kerr, Moylan, Phillips/1995 {setting #1}: D Dorian (Roche, 1st setting): G Major (Harding, Merryweather & Seattle, Mulvihill, O'Neill/Krassen & 1001, Phillips/1995 {setting #2}, Roche {setting 2}: E Aeolian (O'Neill/Krassen -1st setting): A Dorian (Phillips): A Major (Carlin, setting #2). Standard. AB (Begin): AABB (Brody, Harding, Kerr, Moylan, Phillips, Roche, O'Neill, Phillips and Carlin {1st settings}): AABC (Mulvihill): AABBCC (Kennedy, Merryweather & Seattle, O'Neill/Krassen, 1001 & 1915, Roche, and Carlin {2nd settings}).
***
An extremely popular English melody known throughout the British Isles and British North America whose title, the 'cuckoo's nest,' commonly referred to female pubic hair and accompanying anatomy. It dates to at least the early 18th century. James Aird's printing in his Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs, Vol. 1 (1782, pg. 66) includes an interesting fourth strain, not found in other sources. Matt Seattle (1987, 1994) believes the tune to originally have been a Scots Measure in D Minor with the title "Come Ashore Jolly Tar (with) Your Trousers On," but notes that many versions of this tune exist, with quite substantial variation between them, in major and minor keys (he remarks that the Northumbrian William Vicker's late 18th century setting is evidently minor, despite the key signature). The title appears in numerous 18th and 19th century dance collections, and made Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes, which he published c. 1800. In Jacobite Relics (1819) James Hogg prints a song to the melody, commenting: "It must have been a great favourite in the last age, for about the time when I first began to know one tune from another, all the old people that could sing at all, could sing "The cuckoo is a bonny bird." He prints the following words to the tune:
***
The cuckoo's a bonny bird when he comes home,
The cuckoo's a bonny bird when he comes home;
He'll fley away the wild birds that hank about the throne,
My bonny cuckoo when he comes home.
***
The Cuckoo's Nest is also the name of a Scottish country dance, which, though increasingly rare, was danced in parts of the country (e.g. West Berwickshire) through the 19th century.
***
The 18th century Munster poet Eoghan Rua O Suilleabhain used the tune for his poem "An Spealadoir." Doolin, north County Clare tin whistle player Micho Russell also associated the tune with a 'spailpin,' or wandering harvest laborer (he called the tune "The Man that cuts the hay with the Scythe"). Bayard (1944) and Breathnach (1985) both cite the collector Father Henebry (A Handbook of Irish Music, pgs. 170-1) who was convinced that the third part of the Irish versions was modern (i.e. in his time, c. 1900), and "was tastelessly added to the original two parts or the air." Breathnach (1985) also notes that many songs were written to the air, and gives a verse from Seán Ó Dálaigh's collection of a rural love ballad popular in Munster:
***
Tá páircín bheag agamsa
de bhán, mhín, réidh;
Gan claí, gan fál, gan falla léi,
ach a haghaidh ar an saol;
Spealodóir do ghlacfainnse,
Ar task na d'réir an acara,
Bé acu sud do b'fhearr leis,
nó páigh in aghaidh an lae.
(Literal translation by Paul de Grae:)
I have a small little field
white, smooth, ready;
without fence, without hedge, without wall,
but its face to the world:
I'd take a mower
on a task or by the acre,
whichever he'd prefer,
or paid by the day.
***
Breathnach thinks the "An Spealdoir" (by which it is commonly known in Ireland) title stems from this verse.
***
In America, the melody was included in New Windsor, Connecticut, musician Giles Gibbs' MS collection of 1777, Henry Beck's flute manuscript of 1785 (pg. 56), and Clement Weeks' collection of dances made in 1783. It was even preserved in a chime clock of the period manufactured by New Windsor, Connecticut, clockmaker Daniel Burnap. The tune remains a popular staple at New England contra dances to this day. In other American traditions, the title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Similarly, in modern times in the United States the tune has been assumed into Texas fiddling tradition, probably derived from Canadian or Midwestern sources (Guthrie Meade & Mark Wilson).
***
Sources for notated versions: "loosely based on the playing of Dave Swarbrick" (England) [Phillips/1989]; piper Seamus Ennis (Ireland) [Breathnach]; from "an old music book of 1723" [Bunting]; from a MS collection by fiddler Lawrence Leadley, 1827-1897 (Helperby, Yorkshire) [Merryweather & Seattle]; Ruthie Dornfeld and James Chancellor [Phillips/1995]; accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border), recorded at a recital at Na Píobairí Uilleann, February, 1981 [Moylan]; fiddler Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ottawa Valley, Ontario) [Begin]. Aird (Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs), volume I, No. 190 (appears as "Come ashore Jolly Tar"). Begin (Fiddle Music in the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 22, pg. 37. Breathnach (CRE III), 1985; No. 221, pg. 101. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 81. Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; pgs. 163-164, No.'s 291-292 (arrangements by John Kimmel). Harding's All Round Collection, 1905; No. 52, pg. 16. Jarman, Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes; No. or pg. 23. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 27, pg. 14 [note for note the same as Raven's version]. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 4; No. 282, pg. 30. Merryweather & Seattle (The Fiddler of Helperby), 1994; No. 28, pg. 35. Mulvihill (1st Collection), 1986; No. 26, pg. 96 (appears as "Cuckoo's Nest No. 1," identical to O'Neill's 1850 2nd setting). O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 321, pg. 158. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 205 (two settings). O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; Nos. 1733 & 1734, pg. 322. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 913, pg. 156. O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 110, pgs. 157-158. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 14. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 188. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 177 (appears as "The Cuckoo's Nest {New}" and is the same version as O'Neill's second setting). Roche Collection, 1982; Vol. II, pg. 19 and Vol. 3, pg. 60, No. 170. Russell (The Piper's Chair), 1989; pg. 26 (appears as "The Man that cuts the Hay with the Scythe"). Sannella, Balance and Swing (CDSS). Stanford-Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 1206. Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 289. Folkways FS 3809, Dan White and John Summers- "Fine Times at Our House." Fretless 103, "Clem Myers: Northeast Regional Old Time Fiddle Champion 1967 & 1970." Fretless 201, Jerry Robichaud- "Maritime Dance Party" (1978). Front Hall 017, Michael and McCreesh- "Dance, Like a Wave of the Sea" (1978. Learned from the playing of Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick). Kicking Mule 204, Pat Dunford- "The Old-Time Banjo In America." Rounder 0046, Mark O'Conner- "National Junior Fiddle Champion." Rounder 0060, Brother Oswald and Charlie Collins- "Oz and Charlie." Sonet SNTF 764, Dave Swarbrick and Friends- "The Ceilidh Album." Tara Records 1009, Seamus Ennis - "The Fox Chase" (1977).
T:Cuckoo's Nest, The [14]
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Hornpipe
S:O'Neill - 1001 Gems (913)
K:G
dc|BABA GBdg|fdcB cedc|BABG FGAB|c2A2 A2dc|
BABA GBdg|fdcB cedc|BABG FGAc|B2G2G2:|
|:Bc|dBGB dBGB|dcBA G2 AB|cAFA cAFA|cBAG F2BA|
GABc d2g2|fdcB cedc|BABG FGAc|B2G2G2:|
|:Bc|dggf gabg|afd^c d2 de|=fede ^fgaf|gfdB cedc|
BABA GBdg|fdcB cedc|BABG FGAc|B2G2G2:|
TURKEY IN THE STRAW. AKA and see "Old Zip Coon," "Natchez Under the Hill," "The Old Bog Hole." Old-Time, Breakdown: Irish, English, Canadian; Reel or Hornpipe. USA, Widely known and has even entered English country dance tradition. Canada, Prince Edward Island (where Ken Perlman says it is a very popular tune). G Major (Bayard, Brody, Linscott, O'Neill, Perlman, Phillips, Raven, Ruth, Shaw, Sweet): C Major (Ford): D Major (Bayard, Moylan). Standard. AB (Bayard, Shaw): AABB (most versions).
***
An overwhelmingly popular tune in American fiddle tradition. Bayard (1981) suggests that a Scottish tune called "The (Bonny) Black Eagle" (also called "The Way to Edinburgh" by Oswald) resembles "Turkey in the Straw" in in both parts. Besides Samuel Bayard, Alan Jabbour, Winston Wilkinson, George Pullen Jackson and others think that a tune with an even stronger resemblance in the first part to the first part of Turkey is "The Rose Tree" (Maureen ni Cullenaun). Their apparent conclusion is that the Turkey tune is a composite of two older Scottish tunes, the 'A' part of "The Rose Tree" and the 'B' part of "The (Bonny) Black Eagle." There are other speculations: Nathan ("Dan Emmett," pg. 168) gives an Irish reel which seems to bear close resemblance to the 'A' part of Turkey, while Dreamer (in the Oxford Book of Carols, pg. 252) gives a "little known Scottish melody" with a second section equivlent to that of Turkey (Bayard wonders if this particular strain has long been a floater). According to Linscott (1939) the tune is based on the old song "My Grandmother Loved on Yonder Little Green." Michael Cooney lists a number of fiddle tunes to which "Turkey in the Straw" is supposed to have been related, including "Glasgow Hornpipe" (Irish), "Haymaker's Dance" (English), "The Post Office" (Irish), "Lady Shaftsbury's Reel" (Scottish), "Rose Tree in Full Bearing" (Irish), "Old Mother Oxford" (a morris dance tune known in England and Scotland), and "Kinnegad Slashers" (Irish). Captain Francis O'Neill, in Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody suggested the latter was the original source of "Turkey," although most reviewers dismiss this as an incidental resemblance only based on some similarities in the first part.
***
Whatever its origins, it was "undoubtedly in American folk tradition before the 19th century," says Bronner (1987), and that popular theater and minstrel groups during the 19th century helped consolidate and spread its popularity (it was often called "Old Zip Coon" in minstrel tradition). Fuld reports the title "Turkey in de Straw" appeared in 1861 attached to the tune through new song lyrics, copyrighted by one Dan Bryant, the melody labled only an "old melody."
***
Mention of the tune in playlists, periodicals and literature abound. "Turkey" was cited as having commonly been played for Orange County, New York, country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly); Bronner (1987) agrees that it was commonly played in New York state for dances in the early 20th century. It was in the repertory of Buffalo Valley, Pa., region dance fiddlers Harry Daddario and Ralph Sauers. It was one of the tunes listed by the Clarke County Democrat of May 9, 1929, that was predicted would "be rendered in the most approved fashion" at an upcoming contest in Grove Hill, Alabama (Cathen, 1990). "Turkey" was played at a fiddlers' contest in Verbena in 1921 according to the Union Banner of October 27, 1921, and was one of the melodies listed as an example of an "acceptable old-time number for a fiddlers' convention in Fayette, Alabama (Northwest Alabamian, September 4, 1930) {Cauthen, 1990}. Cauthen (1990) further cites a 1925 University of Alabama master's thesis by S.M. Taylor entitled "A Preliminary Survey of Folk-Lore in Alabama" in which the tune is listed, and found it mentioned by Lamar County, Alabama, fiddler D. Dix Hollis in the Opelika Daily News of April 17, 1926, as one of "the good old tunes of long ago." The title appears in a list of the repertoire of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's). Catskill Mountain region fiddler Harry Robinson (Lackawack, New York) was recorded in the field in 1944 by Benjamin A. Botkin (AFS 7759) playing an unaccompanied version of "Turkey in the Straw." The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, from the playing of Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's, while Texas fiddler Eck Robertson's (with Henry Gilliland) recording of the piece (backed with "Arkansas Traveller") was the third best-selling country music record of 1923. It was in the repertoire of Virginia's Fiddlin' Cowan Powers and Family in the 1920's. Paul Gifford remarks that, around the Sault Ste. Marie area of northern Michigan and Ontario, "Turkey in the Straw" is played in the tradition in the key of B Flat Major.
***
The tune was popular enough that even Irish-American bands recorded it: O'Leary's Irish Minstrels, from Boston, recorded it in 1928, and that same year the Flanagan Brothers recorded a medley in New York featuring "Turkey" along with "Chicken Reel" and "Arkansas Traveller." O'Neill printed a version of "Turkey" which was recorded in more modern times by the Irish band De Dannan (on "Song for Ireland"). Scottish band-leader Jimmy Shands recorded "Turkey" in a 1939 medley as with "Chicken Reel." "Turkey" was recorded and played by Sliabh Luachra (Rushy Mountain region, County Kerry/Cork) fiddler Denis Murphy and accordion player Johnny O'Leary, who learned it from influential fiddler Padraig O'Keeffe, although where he learned the tune is unknown.
***
Lyrics set to the tune usually go something like the following:
***
As I went down the new-cut road,
I met Miss Possum and I met Mr. Toad.
And every time the toad would sing,
The possum cut the pigeon-wing.
Chorus:
Turkey in the straw, haw! haw! haw!
Turkey in the hay, hey! hey! hey!
The bull-frog danced with his mother-in-law,
And they played 'em up a tune called turkey in the straw. (Ford)
***
African-American collector Thomas Talley, in his work Negro Folk Rhymes (1922, reprinted in 1991 edited by Charles Wolfe), printed an unusual version called "A Day's Happiness." Wolfe notes that while there were dozens of recordings of the tune by early country musicians there were very few by blacks. Talley's song goes:
***
I went out to milk an' I didn' know how,
I milked dat goat instid o' dat cow;
While a Nigger a-settin' wid a gapin' jaw,
Kept winkin' his eye at a tucky in de straw.
***
I went out de gate an' I went down de road,
An' I met Miss 'Possum an' I met Mistah Toad;
An' ev'y time Miss 'Possum 'ould sing,
Mistah Toad 'ould cut dat Pigeon's Wing.
***
I went in a whoop, as I went down de road;
I had a bawky team an' a heavy load.
I cracked my whip, an' ole Beck sprung,
An' she busted out my wagin tongue.
***
Dat night dere 'us a-gittin' up, shores you're born,
De louse go to supper, an' de flea blow de horn.
Dat raccoon paced, an' dat 'possum trot;
Dat old goose laid, an' de gander not.
***
Sources for notated versions: Edson Cole (Freedom, N.H.) [Linscott]; Les Weir and Ken Kane, 1976 (Central New York State), Charley Hughes, 1973 (Central New York State), and John McDermott, 1926 (Central New York State) [Bronner]; eight southwestern Pa. fiddlers [Bayard]; Thadelo Sullivan via accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border) [Moylan]; Johnny Morrissey (1913-1994, Vernon River, Queens County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman].
***
Adam, 1928; No. 22. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No 320A-H, pgs. 276-279. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 280. Bronner (Old Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No 3, pgs. 21-22, No. 31, pg. 121, No. 39, pg. 145. Cazden, 1955; pg. 26. DeVille, 1905; No. 78 & 97. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 59. Howe (Diamond School for the Violin), 1861; pg. 44. Howe (School for the Violin), 1851; pg. 43. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1, pg. 23. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 84-85. Messer (Way Down East), 1948; No. 52. Moylan (Johnny O'Leary), 1994; No. 247, pg. 142. O'Malley, 1919; pgs. 13 & 40. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 155. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 1520, pg. 281. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 739, pg. 129. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 65. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 43. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 246. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 166. Robbins, 1933; No. 26 & No. 158. Roche Collection, 1982, Vol. 3; No. 215, pg. 81 (Irish march version). Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 18, pg. 8. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 389. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 79. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 113. White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pgs. 33 & 73. White's Unique Collection, 1896; No. 173. CCF2, Cape Cod Fiddlers - "Concert Collection II" (1999). Conqueror 7741 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts. Edison 51278 (RPM), Jasper Bisbee (Michegan), 1923 (appears as last tune in "Girl I Left Behind Me" Medley). Flying Fish 102, New Lost City Ramblers - "20 Years/Concert Performances" (1978). Folkways FA 2337, Clark Kessinger- "Live at Union Grove." Folkways FA 2381, "The Hammered Dulcimer as played by Chet Parker" (1966). Front Hall, Fennigs All Star String Band - "Fennigmania" (1981). Gennett (78 RPM), The Tweedy Brothers (1924. W.Va. string band). MCA-116 {formerly Decca DL7-4896}, Bill Monroe- "Bluegrass Time." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Cyril Stinnett - "Plain Old Time Fiddling." Paramount 3015 (78 RPM), John Baltzell (Mt. Vernon, Ohio), 1927. Paramount 33153 (78 RPM), Dr. D. Dix Hollis (Alabama, 1861-1927), 1924. Rounder 0117, "Blaine Sprouse." Sonyatone 201, Eck Robertson- "Master Fiddler." Victor 19149 (78 RPM), Eck Robertson (West Texas), 1922.
T:Turkeys in the Straw
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Reel
S:O'Neill - 1001 Gems (739)
K:G
BA|G E2 F EDB,C|DEDB, DEGA|BABc dBGA|B A2G AcBA|G E2 F EDB,C|
DEDB, DEGA|B d2 e dBGA|BGAF G2||GA|B d2 e dBGA|Bdde dcBA|
Bdef gfed|BA (3Bcd e2 ef|gfge dged|BdAG E2 GA|BdAG EDB,D|E G2 A G2||