CRIEFF FAIR. Scottish, English; Reel or Strathspey. England, Northumberland. D Minor. Standard. AAB. The town of Crieff is in Perthshire, though Vickers spelled it "Creef" in his MS. Scot, in The Scottish Country Dance Book labeled the tune "from Bremner, 1760." Bayard thought the American tune "Fine Times At Our House" bore some resemblance to this tune. Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection (pg. 69). Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 3; No. 507 (reel). Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 244 (strathspey).
T:Crieff Fair
L:1/8
M:C
R:Strathspey
B:The Athole Collection
K:D Minor
A>BA>G A2 F>G|c>dc>A c>dc>A|A>BA>G F>G A2|f>de>^c d/d/d d2:|
d>ef>g a>fg>e|f>dc>A F>GA>c|d>ef>g a>fg>e|f>de>^c d/d/d d>f|
d>ef>g a>fg>e|f>dc>A F>GA>F|A>cF>A A/A/A a>g|f>de>^c d/d/d d2||
FINE TIMES AT OUR HOUSE [1]. AKA - "Fine Fun at Our House" (Pa.). AKA and see "Kitty's Got a Baby-O." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; central W.Va., Virginia, Indiana, southwestern Pa. D Major/Mixolydian (Krassen {Hammons}, Bayard {Yeager & Yaugher}): A Mixolydian (Bayard {Smalley & Ireland}). AEAE, ADAE (Hammons) or standard. ABB (Bayard, 1981): AABB (Krassen). Bayard (1981) points out that the tune "shades" between major and mixolydian in many versions, which is "a genuine, and once common, feature of our fiddling tradition" (pg. 255). He sees some vague resemblance between this tune and the Scottish "Crieff Fair," but was unable to trace the tune further in British Isles collections. Bayard's (1944) source 'Bub' Yaugher knew the following rhyme associated with this tune:
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Possum up a gum stump, Coonie in the holler,
Devil's on the other side--Don't you hear him holler?
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While another from Fayette County, Pa., (Bayard, 1981) gave the following:
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Fine times at our house, Sally's got a little one:
A great beg yellow devil just like the other one.
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Gerry Milnes collected this verse in West Virginia:
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Fine times at our house, Kate's got a little one;
Bless its little soul, it's another little pretty one.
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(Bayard, 1944). See "Possum Up a Gum Stump." Sources for notated versions: Burl Hammons (Marlinton, Pochahontas County, W.Va.) [Krassen]: John Summers (Marion, Indiana) [Krassen, Phillips]: Irvin Yaugher Jr. (Mt. Independence, Pennsylvania, 10/19/1943, learned from his great-uncle) [Bayard, 1944]: James Smalley (Westmoreland County, Pa., 1944), Walter Ireland (Greene County, Pa., 1944), Henry Yeager (Centre County, Pa., 1930's) [Bayard, 1981]. Bayard (Hill Country Tunes), 1944; No. 76. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 301A-C, pgs. 254-255. Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1983; pg. 80 and pgs. 137-139. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, Vol. 1), 1994; pg. 84. Wilkinson, Southern Folklore Quarterly, VI, I, March, 1942; pg. 10. Flying Fish Records FF089, The Red Clay Ramblers - "Chuckin' the Frizz" (1979. Learned from Indiana fiddler John Summers, whose version was in 'A', standard tuning). Greenhays GR 710, John McCutcheon - "Fine Times at Our House" (1982. Learned largely from W.Va. fiddler Burl Hammons). Library of Congress AFS L65-66, Burl Hammons- "The Hammons Family."
T:Fine Times at Our House
L:1/8
M:2/2
S:James H. "Uncle Jim" Chisholm, Greenwood, Albermarle County, Va.
K:A Mixolyian
E2 E>D CD E2|EAA>A A>BcA|E2 E>D CDE>F|G>EAG F D3|
E2 E>D C>D E2|EA A2 ABcd|efgf e2d2|cABd c A3||
A,4 CD E2|EA A2 ABcA|EDCD E2F2|GEAG F D3|EDCD E2A2|
A2A2 ABcd|edcB Aagf|edcB c A3||
K:A Dorian
ed c2 (d//c)Bcd|efga gagf|ed c2 (d//cBcd|ea2b a2 gf|edcB ABcd|1
efga g2d2|efgf e2d2|^cABc c A3:|2 egfa g2d2|ed^cB Aagf|ed^cA c A3||