ANGUS CAMPBELL [GLASGOW]. Scottish (originally), Canadian, American; Reel. USA; Missouri, Vermont, New York. Canada; Prince Edward Island. A Major. Standard. AABB. "Angus Campbell" is the product of Scottish composer and fiddle virtuoso J. Scott Skinner (1842-1927), who coined it a "concert reel" (tempo 136). Skinner turned the same melodic motif into a strathspey called "The Laird o' Drumblair." The melody quickly found its way into traditional repertory on both sides of the Atlantic and can now even be heard played by American Mid-West fiddlers as well as Canadian and New England musicians. Illustrative of its dissemination is that the title appeared in a list of dance tunes played in the early/mid-20th century by Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner, while at approximately the same time Adirondack Mountains, N.Y., fiddler Vic Kibler believed he had learned the tune in Vermont. Sources for notated versions: Kelly Jones (Missouri) [Phillips]; Francis MacDonald (b. 1940, Morell Rear, North-East Kings County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]; fiddler Dawson Girdwood (Perth, Ottawa Valley, Ontario) [Begin]. Begin (Fiddle Music in the Ottawa Valley: Dawson Girdwood), 1985; No. 26, pg. 39. Bohrer (Vic Kibler), 1992; No. 21, pg. 21. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 23. Hinds/Hebert (Grumbling Old Woman), 1981; pg. 8. Hunter (The Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 224. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes), No. or pg. 23. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. or pg. 22. Messer (Way Down East), 1948; No. 7 {Messer's version is altered from the original}. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 27, pg. 26. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 104. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, Vol. 1), 1994; pg. 15. Skinner (The Scottish Violinist); pg. 13. Also appears in Skinner's collection Harp and Claymore. American Heritage 516, Jana Greif- "I Love Fiddlin.'" Caney Mountain Records CLP 228, Lonnie Robertson (Mo.) - "Fiddle Favorites." Condor 977-1489, "Graham and Eleanor Townsend Live at Barre, Vermont." Fretless 101, "The Campbell Family--Champion Fiddlers." Fretless 200 A, Yankee Ingenuity- "Kitchen Junket" (1977). Green Mountain 1026, Leo Beaudoin- "Old Time Fiddler's Contest 7/30/77." Green Mountain 1050, Sonja Nordstrom- "Old Time Fiddler's Contest 7/26/75." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association 002, Taylor McBaine - "Boone County Fiddler." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Cyril Stinnett (Stinnett epitomized the "North Missouri Hornpipe Style of fiddling). Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Kelly Jones (b. 1947) - "Authentic Old-Time Fiddle Tunes." Philo 1040, Jay Ungar and Lyn Hardy- "Catskill Mountain Goose Chase" (1977. Learned from Putnam County, N.Y. fiddler Bud Snow). Tradition 2118, "Scottish Dances: Jigs, Waltzes and Reels" (1979).
ARKANSAS TRAVELER. Old-Time, Bluegrass, American; Reel, Country Dance. USA, almost universally known. D Major (Rosenberg, Sweet): G Major (Shaw): A Major (Kerr). Standard or ADAE. One part (Burchenal): AB (Shaw): AABB (most versions): AABBA'A' (Phillips, 1994). One of, if not the most famous of American fiddle tunes. E. Southern (1983) calls "Arkansas Traveller" a "plantation fiddle tune" (pg. 186), while Cauthen (1990) writes that it "had been played and sung as (an) anonymous folk tune, claimed and popularized by minstrel performers, then passed into the realm of folk music once more" (pg. 15). It is true that at least some of the elements of the famous dialogue typically attached to the melody (i.e. the conversation between the 'hick' and the 'city-slicker') were in circulation in the 1820's-1830's, during the plantation era, and it has been found that the tune and sketch had been joined and were being performed not long after (Yates and Russell, O.T.M. # 31 Winter 78/79). {For more information see article by H.C. Mercer in JEMFQ VI:2 (18) Summer 1970.} Rosenberg (198-) records that "Arkansas Traveller" was first published by Oliver Ditson and Company of Boston in 1863 and attributed to an itinerant musician or stage comedian named Mose Case, although Cazden (et al, 1982) reports it had been previously published in Buffalo, N.Y., by Blodgett & Bradford in 1858.
***
The music itself was in print in 1847, Rosenberg states, and both the tune and the accompanying skit are presumed by him to have been in oral circulation at the time. Bayard (1981) thinks the whole melody may be an "American amalgam," as he was unable to locate a recognizable version in British Isles traditions. The second strain became a "floater," according to him, and appears in otherwise unrelated tunes, and he speculates a portion of the first part may itself have been a 'floater' that became attached to the tune. In Francis O'Neill's Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody (1922), No. 255, "Arkansas Traveller" is regarded as having a 'presumable' Irish history and three tunes are given which are proffered as in part ancestral to the American melody.
***
In Maine the piece was used for the dance "Green Mountain Volunteers" by the Singing Smiths (South Parsonfield, Me.), though the traditional tune for that dance was "Green Mountain Boys." It was one of the 'tune catagories' for an 1899 fiddle contest at Gallatin, Tenn.; i.e. the fiddler who played the best rendition of "Arkansas Traveller" won a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). Arthur Tanner (Ga.) remembers his father (Gid Tanner of Sillet Lickers fame) and uncle (Arthur Hugh Tanner) playing it "from the stage (in the 1920's/30's) and setting around the house...It would tear the audience up" (Rosenberg). The piece was found in the repertory of most traditional fiddlers in Union and Snyder counties, Pa. (Guntharp), while Cazden (et al, 1982) found the melody and humerous text well known throughout the Catskill Mountain (New York) region (he recorded a version from that locale in 1949). Cauthen (1990) notes in a very complete statewide survey that it was variously recorded as having been played throughout Alabama: in the northeast part of the state (in reports of the 1926-31 De Kalb County Annual Convention), the northwest (mentioned in a 1925 Univ. of Ala. master's thesis), southwest (recorded in a newspaper account of a contest in Grove Hill, May, 1929, and recalled by Alfred Benners in his 1923 book Slavery and Its Results as having been played by slave fiddler Jim Pritchett in Marengo County), southeast (listed by Robert Park in his book Sketch of the 12th Alabama Infantry as played by Ben Smith, a Georgian in the regiment in the Civil War; and recorded as having been played at a fiddlers' convention in July 1926 at the Pike County Fairgrounds), and finally the central part of the state (played at a contest in Verbena in 1921, as recorded by the Union Banner).
***
In another Deep South state, Mississippi, it was recorded in the field from the playing of old-time fiddlers Stephen B. Tucker, John Hatcher and W.E. Claunch (Mississippi Department of Archives and History). The tune was listed for sale on cylanders in a 1901 Columbia catalogue, and in the same format the next year by Edison (Standard Cylander 8202, played by Len Spencer, Oct. 1902 {The tune was re-released as "Return of the Arkansas Traveller" in 1910 by the same company [Standard Cylander 10356]}). Edison also released a version played by Joseph Samuels in Nov. 1919 contained in the "Devil's Dream Medley" (1st tune). Texas fiddler Eck Robertson's (a duet with fiddler and Confederate veteran Henry Gilliland) recording of the piece (backed by "Turkey in the Straw") was the third best-selling record of 1923. The piece was "very popular" at Southwest dances around turn of the century, according to Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner. It was cited as having commonly been played for dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), and appears in Vance Randolph's list of traditional Ozark Mountain tunes he recorded for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's. Finally, it was recorded as having been in the repertory of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham, Henry Ford's national champion old-time fiddler, and regularly played by him in the 1920's. During the 78 RPM era an old recording of "Arkansas Traveller" was released in Québec under the title "Reel des Voyagers."
***
Sources for notated versions: Frank George (W.Va.) [Krassen]; James Marr (Mo., 1948) [Bayard]; eleven Pa. sources [Bayard]; Gordon Tanner (Dacula, Gwinnett County, Ga.) [Rosenberg]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 20 (appendix), pg. 580; No. 74, pg. 49 (an odd variation); and No. 316, pgs. 267-271. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 25- 26 (3 versions- 1 Bluegrass). Burchenal (American Country Dances, Vol. 1), 1917; pg. 58. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 25. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 4. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 46. Jarman, Old-Time Fiddlin' Tunes. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician: Occasional Collection of Old-Timey Fiddle Tunes for Hammer Dulcimer, Fiddle, etc.), No. 2, 1988; pg. 1. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 5, pg. 22. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 44 (includes 'A' part variation). Linscott (Folk Songs from Old New England), 1939 - "The Country Dance," pg. 83. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 3. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 17. Rosenberg, 198-; pg. 106. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 30, pg. 12. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 390. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964; pg. 53. American Heritage 516, Jana Greif- "I Love Fiddlin.'" Atlantic Records LP1350, Hobart Smith - "American Folk Songs for Children." Brunswick 225 (78 RPM), The Tennessee Ramblers. CCF2, Cape Cod Fiddlers - "Concert Collection II" (1999). Columbia 15019-D (78 RPM), Gid Tanner & Riley Pucket. County 514, Earl Johnson and His Clodhoppers- "Hell Broke Loose in Georgia" (orig. rec. 1927). County 517, Eck Robertson and Henry Gilliland- "Texas Farewell." County 723, Cockerham, Jarrell, and Jenkins- "Back Home in the Blue Ridge." County 775, Kenny Baker- "Farmyard Swing." Edison 51381 (78 RPM), Jasper Bisbee {appears as 1st tune of "Girl I Left Behind Me" medley}. Flying Fish 102, New Lost City Ramblers - "20 Years/Concert Performances" (1978). Folkways FA2337, Clark Kessinger- "Live at Union Grove." Folkways FA2371, Roger Sprung- "Ragtime Bluegrass 2." Folkways FTS 31089. Heritage 060, Art Galbraith - "Music of the Ozarks" (Brandywine 1984). Kicking Mule 203, Art Rosenbaum- "The Art of the Mountain Banjo." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Cyril Stinnett - "Plain Old Time Fiddling." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Kelly Jones (b. 1947) - "Authentic Old-Time Fiddle Tunes." Old Homestead OHCS-145, the Skillet Lickers --"A Day at the Country Fair" ("The Original Arkansas Traveller"). Paramount 3015 (78 RPM) {the same as Brunswick 8052}, 1927, and Edison 52294 (78 RPM), 1928, John Baltzell (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) {Baltzell was taught to play fiddle in part by minstrel Dan Emmett, d. 1904, who was born in and returned to [1888] the same town}. Rebel 1552, Buck Ryan- "Draggin' the Bow." Rebel 1515, Curly Ray Cline- "My Little Home in West Virginia." Rounder 0100, Byron Berline- "Dad's Favorites." Rounder 0117, "Blaine Sprouse". Sonyatone 201, Eck Robertson (Texas) and Henry Gilliland (Ok.) - "Master Fiddler." Supertone 9172 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts. Tennvale 003, Pete Parish- "Clawhammer Banjo." Victor 18956 (78 RPM), Eck Robertson (Texas) {1922}. Victor 21635 (78 RPM), Jilson Setters (AKA Blind Bill Day, from Rowan Cty. Ky.), 1928. Voyager 301, Byron Berline- "Fiddle Jam Session." Voyager 304, Bill Long and Bill Mitchell- "More Fiddle Jam Sessions." Recorded by Franklin County, Va. fiddler J.W. "Peg" Thatcher in 1939 for Library of Congress, and by Clayton McMichen (Ga.) and Dan Hornsby in 1928. In repertoire of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (Texas/Tenn.) {1848-1931}, Uncle Bunt Stevens (Tenn.), Fiddlin' Cowan Powers (Russell County, S.W. Va.) {1877-1952?}.
B AND O WALTZ. Old-Time, Waltz. Tune mentioned in a 1931 account of a LaFollete, northeast Tenn. fiddlers contest.
BIG-FOOTED NIGGER (IN THE SANDY LAND). AKA - "Bigfoot." AKA and see "Big-Footed Nigger/Man in the Sandy Lot," "Sandy Lot," "Big-Footed Man," "Big-Footed Coon," "Virginia Reel." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; N.C., Ala., Miss., Tenn. G Major. Standard. AABB. The tune is a mixture of phrases from common dance tunes. The coarse phrase, played on the middle strings will be recognized from the "Turkey in the Straw"-"Natchez Under the Hill"-"Zip Coon" tune family, while the fine part will be found in tunes like "Fort Smith Breakdown" (as played by Ozark old-time musician Luke Highnight). Charles Wolfe says the Stripling Brothers (Charlie and Ira) learned the tune from local West Alabama fiddlers ("Devil's Box", Dec. 1982), and Robert Fleder (1971) relates (in liner notes to the County album of Stripling Brothers releases) that Charlie Stripling recalled "waking up one morning at 3:00 with the second part of the tune running through his head, having heard it played only once earlier in the evening by a neighbor, Henry Ludlow." Stripling was a contest fiddler, and the recording of "Big Footed Man in the Sandy Lot" includes a 'trick' or feature that helped him impress judges and win in competitions; in the midddle of the song he inserts a chorus of "Sweet Bye & Bye." Sources for notated versions: Liz Slade (Yorktown, New York) [Kuntz]; Charlie Stripling (Alabama) [Phillips]. Kuntz, Private Collection. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, Vol. 1), 1994; pg. 23. Recorded by the Roane County (East Tenn.) Ramblers {1929 }. County 401, "The Stripling Brothers." Library of Congress AFS 4806-H-3, Osey Helton (Western N.C.). Library of Congress recording, 1939, W.A. Bledsoe, Meridian, Mississippi (appears as "Big Footed Nigger in a Sandy Lot" and was learned from his father in Lincoln County, Tennessee). Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, W.A. Bledsoe - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1939). Rounder 0197, Bob Carlin - "Banging and Sawing" (1985). Vocalation 5321 (78 RPM), Stripling Brothers (Pickens Cty., Alabama; learned from Henry Ludlow) {1928} [appears as "Big-Footed Nigger in the Sandy Lot"].
T:Bigfoot
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Liz Slade
K:G
(3D/E/F/|G)A/A/ BA/(B/|B/)D/G/E/ D(3D/E/F/|G)A/A/ B/A/G/(D/|
E>)(D E/)(3D/E/F/|G)A/A/ BA/(B/|B/)D/G/E/ DD/D/|D/(E/D/)(D/ E)F|
(G/ B) (G/ B:|
|:(e|g/)(a/g/)g/ (g/e/)d|e/f/e/(d/ B/)B/d|(e/ e) (e/ ef|e/(d/B/)B/ d(e|
g)g/g/ g/e/d|e/f/e/A/ G(A/(B/|B/)A/d/(A/ B/A/)G|(C/ E) (C/ E:|
BILE THEM CABBAGE DOWN. AKA - "Boil Them Cabbage Down," "Bake Them Hoecakes Brown." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Oklahoma, Arkansas, southwestern Pa., northeast Alabama. D Major (Bayard, Thede): A Major (Reiner, Ruth, Sweet). Standard or AEAE (McMichen). One part: AABB (Sweet): AABBCCDD' (Ruth). The word 'bile' means 'boil'. Ralph Rinzler traces the tune to an early English country dance "Smiling Polly," in print in 1765. "Bile Them Cabbage Down" is commonly found in beginning fiddle instructors and in ditty-books, and is "a negro reel tune which has become universally popular among white square dance musicians" (Alan Lomax). African-American origins are evident in collections of White, Scarborough and Brown-all from black informants. Tennessee banjoist and entertainer Uncle Dave Macon recorded one of the first versions of the song in 1924. Clayton McMichen put together a virtuoso version of this tune to use in competition at various major fiddle contests. Also played by Arthur Smith on his radio broadcasts (Frank Maloy). The tune was Clayton McMichen's favorite contest tune, by his own account (Charles Wolfe). Richardson, in "American Mountain Songs", pg. 88., thought the tune was derived from "Oh Susanna." The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by folklorist/musicologist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Cauthen (1990) found evidence the tune was commonly known in northeast Alabama from its mention in two sources: reports of the De Kalb County Annual (Fiddlers') Convention 1926-31, and in the book Sourwood Tonic and Sassafras Tea (where it was listed as one of the tunes played by turn of the century Etowah County fiddler George Cole). Richard Nevins believes the tune was not known in the Mt. Airy, N.C., musical community until the advent of the phonograph.
***
African-American collector Thomas Talley was the first to publish the text of the song in his book Negro Folk Rhymes (1922, reprinted in 1991 edited by Charles Wolfe). His lyric (No. 232, "Cooking Dinner") goes:
***
Go: Bile dem cabbage down.
Turn dat hoecake 'round,
Cook it done an' brown.
***
Yes: Gwineter have sweet taters too.
Hain't had none since las' Fall,
Gwineter eat 'em skins an' all.
***
Sources for notated versions: Claude Thompson (Cotton County, Oklahoma) [Thede], John Nicholson (Fayette County, Pa., 1949) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 219, pg. 173. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1977; pg. 8. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 118, pg. 41 (appears as "Bake Those Hoe Cakes Brown"). Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964; pg. 76 (includes variations, and appears as "Boil the Cabbage Down"). Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 69. Recorded by numerous North Georgia bands: Riley Puckett and Gid Tanner (1924), The Skillet Lickers (1928), Earl Johnson (1928), and the Georgia Wildcats (1937) {Clayton McMichen's band}. County 723, Fred Cockerham, Tommy Jarrell & Oscar Jenkins - "Back Home in the Blue Ridge". Paramount 3151 (78 RPM), 1928, The Dixie Crackers {North Georgia}. Heritage 048, "Georgia Fiddle Bands" {Brandywine, 1982}, (1983). Vocalation 14849 (78 RPM), Uncle Dave Macon (1924).
BILL CHEATUM [1]. AKA - "Bill Cheatem," "Bill Cheatham," "Cheatum," "Cheat 'Em." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, widely known. A Major. Standard. AABB: AA'BB' (Kaufman). Krassen and others note this is a common fiddle tune throughout the Southern part of the United States, where it probably originated (Christeson says he did not hear the tune in Missouri until the mid-1940's). The tune was a fiddle contest "category" tune in 1899 in Gallatin, Tenn.--each fiddler would play a version, with the best rendition being awarded a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). Sources for notated versions: Floyd Smith (Cole County, Missouri) [Christeson]: Max Collins (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede]: Krassen credits the Texas based Red Headed Fiddlers and Henry Reed (Va.) for the version he gives in his book: A.L. Steeley & the Red Headed Fiddlers [Kaufman]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983: pg. 41. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; No. 34, pg. 24. Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; pg. 61. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 68. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; pg. 16. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 5. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 24. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1977; pg. 31. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 103 (appears as "Bill Cheatem"). Alcazar Dance Series ALC 202, Sandy Bradley - "Potluck & Dance Tonite!" (1979). County 515, "Mountain Banjo Songs and Tunes." County 542, Blind Joe Mangrum (b. 1853, Paducah, Ky.) - "Nashville: the Early String Bands, Vol. 2" (originally recorded in 1928 for Victor). County 719, Kenny Baker - "Portrait of a Bluegrass Fiddler" (1968). Front Hall 010, Fennigs All Star String Band - "The Hammered Dulcimer Strikes Again." Kicking Mule 202, John Burke - "Fancy Pickin' and Plain Singing." Library of Congress recording, 1939, W.A. Bledsoe, Meridian, Mississippi. Mountain 301, Kyle Creed - "Blue Ridge Style Square Dance Time." Rounder 0016, Vasser Clements - "Crossing the Catskills." Rounder 0093, Jerry Douglas - "Fluxology." Rounder 7002, Graham Townsend--"Le Violin/The Fiddle."
T:Bill Cheatum [1]
L:1/8
M:C|
S:Jay Ungar
Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz
K:A
[A,2E2] [E2A2] [E4c4]|cBAc BAFE|DFAc d2 de|fgaf ecBc|[A,2E2] [E2A2] [E3c3]B|
cBAc BAcA|dcde fgaf|1 ecBc A4:|2ecBc A3||
|:af|ecea fdfa|gefg a2 af|ecea fdfa|ecAc B2 af|ecea fdfa|gefg a2 (3efg|agae faed|
cABc A3:|
BLACK EYED SUSIE [1]. AKA and see variant "(Hop Up) Kitty Puss" (northeast Ky.). Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; southwestern Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kentucky. D Major. Standard. AB (Christeson, Krassen/1983): AABB (Brody, Krassen /1973): AA'BB' (Phillips). "One of the most popular breakdown tunes," note the New Lost City Ramblers (1964).
**
Bayard (1981) traces the history of the tune, beginning in the British Isles with a melody called "Rosasolis," set by Giles Farnaby (c. 1560- c.1600), which appears in the the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Another version of the melody is called "Morris Off" and appears in Jehan Tabourot's Orchesographie (1588); it is still used for English morris dances and has been called the earliest recorded morris tune. Still another version appears as a Welsh harp tune, "Alawon Fy Ngwlad." Later developments of the tune were popular in England and Scotland from the early 17th century through the 18th, under the title "Three (Jolly) Sheep Skins;" while in Ireland a variation became known as "Aillilliu mo Mhailin" (Alas My Little Bag) {a humorous lament for a stolen bag of sundries}.
**
Transported to the United States from these various sources the melody developed into an old-time standard, "Black Eyed Susie," well-known throughout the South and Midwest. It was mentioned in reports from 1926-31 of the De Kalb County, northeast Alabama, Annual (Fiddler's) Convention, and at a 1929 Grove Hill, southwest Alabama, contest (Cauthen, 1990). Musicologist Vance Randolph collected and recorded the breakdown in the early 1940's for the Library of Congress from Ozark Mountains fiddlers, and it was similarly waxed in 1939 from the playing of Tishomingo County, Mississippi, fiddler John Hatcher for the same institution. Sources for notated versions: John Hilt (Tazewell County, Virginia) [Krassen, 1983]; Bob Walters (Lincoln, Nebraska) [Christeson]; New Lost City Ramblers [Brody, Kuntz]; John Tustin & S. Clark (southwestern Pa., mid-1900's) [Bayard]; Uncle Tom West (Boyd County, Ky., 1911) [Thomas & Leeder]; Doc Roberts (Ky.) [Phillips]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 185A-B, pg. 142. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 47. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol.1) , 1973; No. 71, pg. 54 (appears as "Black Eyed Susan"). Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddle), 1983; pg. 110. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 51 (appears as "Blackeyed Susan"). Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1986; pg. 327. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 28. Thomas & Leeder (The Singin' Gathering), 1939; pg. 61. Anachronistic 001, John Hilt - "Swope's Knobs." County 405, "The Hill-Billies." County 713, Cockerham, Jarrell, and Jenkins - "Down to the Cider Mill." County CO-CD-2711, Kirk Sutphin - "Old Roots and New Branches" (1994). Davis Unlimited 33015, Doc Roberts - "Classic Fiddle Tunes." Folkways FA 2492, New Lost City Ramblers - "String Band Instrumentals" (1964. Learned from J.P. Nestor & Whitter's Virginia Breakdowners). Gennett 6257 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts (Ky.), c. 1928. Marimac 9009, Rafe Stefanini - "Old Time Friends" (1987). Marimac 9060, Jim Bowles - "Railroading Through the Rocky Mountains" (1992). Okeh 40320 (78 RPM), Whitter's Virginia Breakdowners (Henry Whitter, John Rector, James Sutphin). Rounder 0032, Buddy Thomas (northest Ky.) - "Kitty Puss: Old Time Fiddle Music From Kentucky." Victor 21070 (78 RPM), J.P. Nestor and Edmonds (Galax, Va.) {1927}. Victor 40127 (78 RPM), Jilson Setters (as Blind Bill Day; b. 1860, Rowan County, Ky.) {1928}.
T:Blackeyed Susie [1]
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Kuntz - Ragged but Right
K:D
(a>b) a(e/f/)|(g>a) ga|fd/d/ [d/e/][d/e/]d|BA FA:|
|:dd/d/ f/d/e/d/|dc/c/ Bc|dd/d/ f/d/e/d/ BAFA:|
BLACKBERRY BLOSSOM [2]. Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA; Tennessee, Kentucky, Nebraska. G Major ('A' part) & E Minor ('B' part). Standard. ABB (Christeson): ABB' (Berline): AABB (Brody, Krassen, Lowinger, Phillips). The tune is well-known as a traditional Kentucky dance tune. Charles Wolfe and Barry Poss note that Kentucky fiddlers have played a tune by that name since before the Civil War and that Kentucky fiddler Dick Burnett recorded a version in 1930 which has been the model for many traditional southern Kentucky/northern Tennessee versions. This version however is not Arthur Smith's "Blackberry Blossum," which is different and may have been an original of his. Smith recorded his version with the Arthur Smith Trio in 1929. "A family story tells of Arthur's playing the tune over WSM and the station conducting a contest to name the tune; bushels of mail came in, and a woman in Arkansas won with the name 'Blackberry Blossom'" (Charles Wolfe & Barry Poss)./ Ky. fiddler Dick Burnett said he learned his version "from a blind fiddler in (Ashland,) Johnson County, (eastern) Ky., named Ed Hayley" (elsewhere Burnett said he actually learned the tune from northeastern fiddler Bob Johnson, who had it from Hayley {1883-1951}, who was a legendary fiddler in east Kentucky). The tune was in fact Haley's signature tune, though he never commercially recorded it (Mark Wilson & Guthrie Meade, 1976). Another story about the origin of the title comes from Jean Thomas's "Ballad Makin' in the Mountains of Kentucky." It seems that a General Garfield named the tune during the Civil War after hearing a soldier playing it on the harmonica. He remarked to the musician that it was his favorite tune but said he couldn't remember the title, whereupon he expectorated a stream of tobacco juice onto a white blackberry bush blossom; this was noticed and the tune named. As improbable as that story sounds, the tradition of General Garfield's liking for the tune was corroborated by Ed Morrison on his Library of Congress recording (an influential version); he says Garfield used to whistle the tune frequently. Western New York Sources for notated versions: Bob Walters (Lincoln, Nebraska) [Christeson]; Charlie Higgins (Krassen says his version is loosely based on Higgin's playing); Benny Thomasson (Texas) [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1973; pg. 47. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; No. 142, pg. 101. Frets Magazine, February 1988, "Byron Berline: The Fiddle;" pg. 56. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 60. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; pg. 14. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 7. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pgs. 26 & 27 (two versions). Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1977; pg. 32. Columbia 15567 (78 RPM), Burnett and Ruttledge (1930). County 705, Sonny Miller & the Southern Mountain Boys- "Virginia Breakdown." Green Linnet SIF 1075, John Whelan & Eileen Ivers - "Fresh Takes" (1987. Learned from Eamonn O'Loughlin and played as a hornpipe). Marimac AHS #3, Glen Smith - "Say Old Man" (1990. Learned from legendary Galax, Va., fiddler Uncle Charley Higgins). Rounder 0092, Tony Rice - "Manzanita." Rounder 0090, Mark O'Connor - "Markology." Rounder 0073, "The White Brothers in Sweden." Rounder 0241, The Chicken Chokers - "Shoot Your Radio" (1987. Learned from Mike Seegar, Judy Hyman & Bert Levy). Rounder 1004, "Ramblin' Rickless Hobo: The Songs of Dick Burnett and Leonard Rutherford." Sugar Hill Records, Byron Berline & John Hickman - "Double Trouble." Vanguard VSD 45/46, "The Essential Doc Watson." Omac 1, Mark O'Connor - "A Texas Jam Session." Columbia 15567-D (78 RPM), Burnett and Ruttledge, 1930.
T:Blackberry Blossom
L:1/8
M:2/4
K:G
e/f/|g/a/b/g/ f/g/a/f/|e/f/g/e/ d/B/A/B/|G/A/G/E/ D/E/G/A/|B/A/G/B/ Ae/f/|
g/a/b/g/ f/g/a/f/|e/f/g/e/ d/B/A/B/|G/A/G/E/ D/E/G/A/|B/G/A/F/ G:|
|:G/D/|Ee/B/ de/d/|Ee/B/ d/e/d/B/|Ee/B/ d/d/e/f/|g/a/b/g/ a/g/e/d/|Ee/B/ d/e/d/B/|
Ee/B/ dd/A/|B/d/g e>d|B/G/A/F/ G:|
BONAPARTE'S RETREAT [1]. Old-Time, Texas Style; March, Reel. USA; Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Kentucky, northeast Alabama, Mississippi, southwestern Va., West Virginia, Pennslyvania. D Major (most versions, though one version in A Major was collected from Mississippi fiddler John Hatcher in 1939). DDAD or DDAE. ABB. A classic old-time quasi-programmatic American fiddle piece that is generally played in a slow march tempo at the beginning and becomes increasingly more quick by the end of the tune, and meant to denote a retreating army. One folklore anecdote regarding this melody has it that the original "Bonaparte's Retreat" was improvised on the bagpipe by a member of a Scots regiment that fought at Waterloo, in remembrance of the occasion. The American collector Ira Ford (1940) (who seemed to manufacture his notions of tune origins from fancy and supposition, or else elaborately embellished snatches of tune-lore) declared the melody to be an "old American traditional novelty, which had its origin after the Napoleonic Wars." He notes that some fiddlers (whom he presumably witnessed) produced effects in performance by drumming the strings with the back of the bow and "other manipulations simulating musket fire and the general din of combat. Pizzicato represents the boom of the cannon, while the movement beginning with Allegro is played with a continuous bow, to imitate bagpipes or fife."
***
In fact, the tune has Irish origins, though Burman-Hall could only find printed variants in sources from that island from 1872 onward. "It has been collected in a variety of functions, including an Irish lullaby and a 'Frog Dance' from the Isle of Man" (Linda Burman-Hall. "Southern American Folk Fiddle Styles," Ethnomusicology, Vol. 19, #1, Jan. 1975). Samuel Bayard (1944) concurs with assigning Irish origins for "Bonaparte's Retreat," and notes that it is an ancient Irish march tune with quite a varied traditional history. The 'ancient march' is called "The Eagle's Whistle" or "The Eagle's Tune," which P.W. Joyce (1909) said was formerly the marching tune of the once powerful O'Donovan family. Still, states Bayard, the evidence of Irish collections indicates that it has long been common property of traditional fiddlers and pipers, and has undergone considerable alteration at various hands.
***
Bayard's primary scope of collecting was in western Pennsylvania in the mid-20th century, where he found the tune still current in fiddle repertoire, though he remarked on its popularity in various parts of the South. His Pennsylvania version has a somewhat simpler melodic outline than most of the other recorded American sets, and, although he notes that these sets vary considerably--even in the number of parts which a version may contain--he finds they are clearly cognate, and all show resemblance's and common traits indicating derivation from the "The Eagle's Whistle." In Southwestern Pennsylvania the march origins were lost and instead "sets of the tune have been recast into the form--and given title-- of 'The Old Man and Old Woman Quarrelin' (Scoldin', Fightin'),' and thus present an alternation of slow and quick parts. Other Pennsylania sets are Bayard Coll., Nos. 81, 84, 252; and see notes to ('Old Man and Old Woman Scoldin'). These refashioned 'Old Man and Woman' sets differ somewhat among themselves, indicating that they have been traditional in their altered form for some time; but whether they assumed this form before their importation into America, or whether the alteration took place here, with an older tune of the type of 'Old Mand and Old Woman Scoldin'' as model, is uncertain. F.P. Provance stated that the fifer from whom he learned this tune played it as a retreat in Civil War days" (Bayard, 1944).
***
According to Blue Ridge Mountain local history the tune was known in the Civil War era. Geoffrey Cantrell, writing in the Asheville Citizen-Times of Feb., 23, 2000 relates the story of the execution of three men by the Confederate Home Guard on April 10th, 1865, the day after Lee's surrender at Appomattox.Courthouse. That news would not have been known to them, given the difficult, but it is documented that Henry Grooms, his brother George and his brother-in-law Mitchell Caldwell, all of north Haywood County, North Carolina, were taken prisoner by the Guard-no one knows why, but the area had been ravaged by scalawags and bushwackers, and the populace had suffered numerous raids of family farms by Union troops hunting provisions. The village of Waynesville had been burned two months earlier, and the citizenry was beleaguered and anxious. Cantrell writes: "The group traveled toward Cataloochee Valley and Henry Grooms, clutching his fiddle and bow, was asked by his captors to play a tune. Realizing he was performing for his own firing squad Grooms struck up Bonaparte's Retreat." When he finished the three men were lined up against an oak tree and shot, the bodies left where they feel. Henry's wife gathered the bodies and buried them in a single grove in Sutton Cemetery No. 1 in the Mount Sterling community, the plain headstone reading only "Murdered."
***
The Kentucky Encyclpedia gives another story which mentions "Bonaparte's Retreat" in connection with an execution. It seems that a Colonel Solomon P. Sharp, a former attorney general of Kentucky, was murdered in the middle of a September night in 1825 by an unidentified assailant who stabbed him in his chest. Sharp had political enemies, all of whom had alibis, but who had circulated rumors that he had seduced one Ann Cook of Bowling Green, fathering her illegitimate child in 1820. Suspicion soon shifted to Ann's husband, Jereboam Beauchamp, who married her after the birth of the supposed love-child but who was infuriated at the circulating handbills containing the rumor. Beauchamp was dully arrested, tried in Frankfort in May, 1826, found guilty and was sentenced to death by hanging. Ann could not bear to be parted from him and somehow gained permission from the jailer to stay with him in his jail cell. The couple tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide by taking an overdose of laudanum, but were still permitted to share the cell. Another suicide attempt with a smuggled knife was made on the day of the execution, with somewhat better results. Ann, mortally wounded, was taken to the jailers house for treatment, but Beauchamp was hustled to the gallows lest he die from his wounds before the sentence was carried out. He proved too weak from his wounds to stand and had to be supported, but he was presumably able to hear the strains of "Bonaparte's Retreat" played before he made the leap, as he had previously requested. Ann and Jereboam were buried in a joint grave in Bloomfield, Kenctucky, graced by a tombstone engraved with an eight-stanza poem written by Ann.
***
The tune was cited (by Mattie Stanfield in her book Sourwood Tonic and Sassafras Tea) as having been played by Etowah County, Alabama, fiddler George Cole at the turn of the century (Cauthen, 1990). Musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph recorded the tune from Ozark Mountain fiddlers for the Library of Congress in the early 1940's. Ed Haley (1883-1951) of Ashland, eastern Ky., played the tune so skillfully that "one old-timer, after hearing Haley play ("Bonaparte's Retreat") declared that 'if two armies could come together and hear him play that tune, they'd kill themselves in piles" (Wolfe, 1982). Haley toured regionally in Kentucky and West Virginia It was "Bonaparte's Retreat" that was the first tune Braxton County fiddler Melvin Wine (1909-1999) learned at the age of nine. His father, Bob, played the fiddle and young Melvin practiced when the elder Wine was out cutting timber or working as a farmhand for neighbors. He finally worked up the nerve to play for his father, and it proved a successful entrée, for afterwards which Bob taught him tunes he had learned from his own father, Nels, and Grandfather "Smithy" (Mountains of Music, John Lilly ed., 1999, pg. 8).
***
Another Kentucky fiddler, William H. Stepp (of Leakeville, Magoffin County, whose name, Kerry Blech points out, is sometimes erroneously given as W.M. Stepp, from a misreading of the old abbreviation Wm., for William), appears to be the source (through his 1937 Library of Congress field recording) for many revival fiddlers' versions. Stepp's version of the tune was transcribed by Ruth Crawford Seegar and was included in John and Alan Lomax's volume Our Singing Country (1941). The Crawford/Seegar version has been credited as the source Aaron Copland adapted for a main theme in his orchestral suite "Hoedown." {Lynn "Chirps" Smith says he has even heard people refer to the tune as "Copland's Fancy" in recent times!}. North Georgia fiddler A.A. Gray (1881-1939) won third place honors playing the tune at the 1920 (10th) Annual Georgia Old Time Fiddler's Association state contest in Atlanta, and four years later recorded it as a solo fiddle tune for OKeh Records. Sources for notated versions: J.S. Price (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede]: F.P. Provance, Point Marion, Pennsylvania, September 19, 1943, who learned it from Sam Waggle, fifer, of Dunbar [Bayard, 1944]: Marion Yoders (Greene County, Pa., 1962) [Bayard, 1981].
***
PRINTED SOURCES: Bayard (Hill Country Tunes), 1944; No. 87. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 238, pg. 199. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 52. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 129. Lomax (Our Singing Country), pg 54-55 (appears as "Bonyparte"). Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 36-37. Caney Mountain Records CLP 228, Lonnie Robertson (Mo.), c. 1971-72. County 202, "Eck Robertson: Famous Cowboy Fiddler." County 546, "Arthur Smith and His Dixieliners, Vol. I." County 703, Benny Thomasson- "Texas Hoedown." County 756, Tommy Jarrell- "Sail Away Ladies" (1976). County 790, Leftwich & Higginbotham - "No One to Bring Home Tonight" (1984). Folkways FA 2325, Mike Seeger- "Old Time Country Music." Folkways FA 2366, The Watson Family (N.C.) - "The Watson Family Album." Folk Legacy Records FSA-17, Hobart Smith - "America's Greatest Folk Instrumentalist." Heritage XXXIII, Jay Ungar & Neil Rossi - "Visits" (1981. Learned from a 1937 Library of Congress recording of Lakeville, Ky., fiddler W.M.Stepp). Okeh 40110 (78 RPM), A.A. Gray (1924). Philo 1023, Jay Ungar and Lyn Hardy- "Songs Ballads and Fiddle Tunes" (1975. Learned from Kentucky fiddler W.M. Stepp via Library of Congress recording). Rounder 0010, "The Fuzzy Mountain String Band" (1972. Learned from Alan Jabbour). Rounder 0057, Sherman Wimmer (Franklin County, Va.) - "Old Originals, Vol. 1" (1978. Learned from Will Willit, nephew and protege of influential Franklin County fiddler Fount Kinrea). String 802, Emmett Lundy (Galax, Va.) - Library of Congress Recording. Transatlantic 341, Dave Swarbrick- "Swarbrick 2." Voyager VRCD 344, Howard Marshall & John Williams - "Fiddling Missouri" (1999. Learned from Audrain County, Missouri, fiddler Warren Elliot in 1967). Yazoo Records, W.M. (William) Stepp - "Music of Kentucky, Vol. 1" (reissue of the 1937 Stepp recording by Alan Lomax. Stepp can be heard on the recording saying in the midst of fiddling: "This is the bony part....That was the bony part").
BRAES OF TULLYMET, THE. AKA and see "The Barrack St. Boys," "Birnie-boozle," "Braes of Tullymet," "Brides Away," "The Bride to Bed," "Brides to Bed," "The British Naggon," "Cheese It," "Corney is Coming," "Crawford's Reel," "D. Dick's Favourite," "The Honeymoon," "I saw her," "Kelly's Reel," "Miss Grant of Grant," "Miss Wilson," "Merry Bits of Timber," "My Love is in America," "My Love is in the House," "Shannon Breeze," "Six Mile Bridge." Scottish, Strathspey or Highland Schottische. G Minor/Dorian (Alburger, Gow, Honeyman, Kerr/Vol. 2, Skye, Williamson): E Minor (Kerr Vol 1). Standard. AAB (Athole, Cranford, Gow, Honeyman, Hunter, Kerr, Skye): AABB (Williamson): AABB' (Kerr, Vol. 2): ABCDEFF (McGlashan). The braes, or hillsides, referred to in the title lie in Perthshire. Robert Petrie (1767-1830) is often credited with the composition of this tune, though he himself did not claim it. Alburger (1983), doubting the ascription, notes that it was published before his birth. Petrie was born in Kirkmichael in Perthshire, where he garnered the local reputation as a profligate and fiddler (a not uncommon combination). As a young man he won either a prized silver bow in a fiddle contest at Edinburgh or a cup at a competition in Aberdeen in 1822, or both. He published four collections of reels and strathspeys and country dances between 1790 and 1796. "It is an interesting aside that (Petrie's birthplace) Kirkmichael was famous for the number of its ghosts, spirits, and fairies. Many places with the word "michael" in the name were so noted, probably because the early Christians were in the habit of building churches to that saint on the site of the confluence of ancient druidical lines of force. These were called "ley lines" or "dragon lines," and St. Michael was often represented with his foot on a dragon's neck. The Spauldings, the lairds of Ashintully at Kirkmichael, died out entirely from the effects of a death curse put upon them by a tinker they had hanged for trespassing" (Williamson, 1976). Glen (1891) finds the earliest appearence of the tune in print in Neil Stewart's 1761 collection (pg. 64), and another early printing is in McGlashan's 1780 Collection. The Braes of Tulliemet is the name of a Scottish country dance from Selkirkshire, one of the fifteen or so either wholly or in part in strathspey tempo (Flett, 1964). Source for notated version: Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford]. Alburger (Scottish Fiddlers and Their Music), 1983; Ex. 36, pgs. 59-60. Cranford (Winston Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 159, pg. 63. Gow (Complete Repository), Part 1, 1799; pg. 8. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; pg. 26. Hunter (Fiddle Music of Scotland), 1988; No. 167. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 2, pg. 19 (Highland Schottische, appears as "Braes of Tulimet"). Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 2; No. 210, pg. 23. McGlashan (Collection of Strathspey Reels), c. 1780/81; pg. 29. MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; pg. 134. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 185. Williamson (English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes), 1976; pg. 64 (appears as "Braes of Tullimet"). Greentrax CDTRAX 9009, John 'Dancie' Reid (1869-1942) - "Scottish Tradition 9: The Fiddler and his Art" (1993). Rounder RO7023, Natalie MacMaster - "No Boundaries" (1996).
T:Braes of Tullymet, The
L:1/8
M:C
R:Strathspey
B:The Athole Collection
K:G Minor
c|A<d d>c d>c d<f|A>Fc>F d>Fc>F|A<d d>c d>cd>g|f>d cB/A/ G2G:|
d|g>d g<b g>d g<b|f>c f<a f>c f<a|g>d g<b g>d g<b|f>d cB/A/ g2 g>d|
g>dg>b dg/a/ b>g|f>c f<a cf/g/ a>f|g<d d>=e f>ga>g|f>d d/c/B/A/ G2G
BUCKING MULE. See "Cumberland Gap on a Buckin' Mule." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; north Georgia, western N.C., eastern Tenn., Ky., southwestern Pa. D Major. Standard. AA'BB. The favorite contest tune of north Georgia fiddler A.A. Gray, who recalled in a 1934 interview:
***
I find the tune you play has a lot to do with winning prizes.
A fellow just ahead of me used "Bully of the Town" and
that's a mighty good piece. He won four prizes in a row.
Finally, I happened to think of "Bucking Mule." It's a hard
piece, but its snappy, and you do a lot of fancy work behind
the bridge that makes the fiddle bray like a mule. I won so many
prizes that the other follows got to calling my 'Mule' Gray (Old
Time Music, No. 41, Spring 1985).
***
Georgia duo Gid Tanner and Riley Puckett's version for Columbia Records in 1924 was the first string band record ever released. Further north, the piece was reportedly popular with Tennessee fiddlers. It was in the repertoire of Monticello, Ky., fiddler Dick Burnett and was one of two pieces he remembered getting the most applause for from audiences during his hey-day. "Bucking Mule" was also frequently played by "Natchez the Indian," a contest fiddler in the 1930's and 40's who may or may not have been a Native American; Natchez dressed in beaded buckskins and wore his hair in long braids, and when he fiddled this tune "the animation of his coiffure and the tassles on his buckskins was of greater interest than the quality of his music" (Mark Wilson & Guthrie Meade, 1976). Source for notated version: A manuscript from fifer Thomas Hoge (Greene County, Pa.) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 339, pg. 325. Broadway A-1963 (78 RPM), 1924, J. Dedrick Harris (Harris was a legendary fiddler from Tennessee who played regularly with Bob Taylor when he ran for Governer of the state in the late 1800's. Harris moved to Western N.C. in the 1920's and influenced a generation of fiddlers there: Manco Sneed, Bill Hensley, Osey Helton, Marcus Martin. This was one of two songs only he recorded [see "Whip the Devil Round the Stump"]). Columbia 110-D (78 RPM), 1924, Gid Tanner and Riley Puckett. Rounder Records, Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers (1934) - "The Kickapoo Medecine Show" (appears as "Cumberland Gap on a Buckin' Mule"). Vocalation 5432 (78 RPM), A.A. Gray (part of "A Fiddler's Tryout in Georgia").
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:|
CACKLIN' HEN [1]. See "Old Hen Cackled," "Old Hen She Cackled," "Hen Cackled," "Cluck Old Hen," "Cackling Pullet," "Chicken in the Barnyard," "Old Man Depression Get On Your Way." Bluegrass, Old Time; Breakdown. USA, widely known. G Major. Standard. AABB (Brody, Ruth, Shumway); AA'BB (Phillips): ABBCDD (Thede). Many variants of this widely known tune appear under titles which include the adjective "cluck" or "cackling," often with the word "old" also appendaged (see alternate titles above). It has been a fiddle contest standard, and is often still heard at fiddler's gatherings; for example, it is mentioned in a 1931 account of LaFollette, northeast Tenn., fiddlers' contest, and, in 1899 in a contest in Gallatin, Tenn., "Cackling Hen" was one of the 'catagory' tunes (where each fiddler would play the same tune with the winning version winning a prize {Charles Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80}). The piece was reworked by the early 20th century Georgia group called the Skillet Lickers, and was recorded by them in the early 30's as "Old Man Depression Get On Your Way." The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Sources for notated versions: Chubby Wise (Brody), Jubal Anderson (Pottawatomie County, Ok.) [Thede]; Kenner C. Kartchner (Arizona) [Shumway]; Robert Wise [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 60. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 92. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 43. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 94, pg. 34. Shumway (Frontier Fiddler), 1990; pg. 266. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 123. Briar 4206, "Scotty Stoneman." Flying Fish 102, New Lost City Ramblers- "20 Years Concert Performances" (1978. Learned from Joe Stewart's Folkways album). Folkways FA2314, Joe Stewart - "American Banjo Scruggs Style." Kicking Mule, Reed Martin- "The Old-Time Banjo in America." Rounder C11565, Fred Price (northeastern Tenn.) - "Rounder Fiddle" (1990). Rounder 0009, Clint Howard, Fred Price & Sons - "The Ballad of Finley Preston." Rounder CD 0383, Mike Seegar and Paul Brown - "Down in North Carolina." Stoneway 104, Chubby Wise- "Chubby Wise and His Fiddle." Stoneway 148, Chubby Wise- "Fiddle Hoedown." Martin, Bogen and Armstrong- "Barnyard Dance." Recorded for OKeh in 1925 by Dedrick Harris (b. 1868) {Tenn., Asheville N.C.}, one of only two fiddle solos he made.
CAMP CHASE [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. A Major. AEAE, DGDG (Harvey Sampson) or Standard. AABB. No relation to version #1. The legend attached to the tune has been related by several writers (with slight variations) but most versions begin at the point that Solly "Devil Sol" Carpenter (fiddler French Carpenter's grandfather and himself one of the most influential fiddlers in West Virginia history) is imprisoned during the Civil War at a Union prison in Camp Chase, located near the west side of Columbus, Ohio, where the present-day Fort Hayes is situated. Little remains of the prison camp save for a cemetary on West Sullivan Ave., and a small stone retaining wall on West Broad Street, Columbus.
**
The story goes that while he was incarcerated the commandant held fiddler's contest to give the best player a chance to fiddle his way to freedom, or, as some versions go, to win a reprieve from a death sentance. Devil Sol, a man named Bowie and others played and apparently all the fiddlers played the same tune. Solly won by adding some unusual new notes to the tune according to his fancy (or perhaps, as one writer suggests, in desperation). West Virginia fiddler Wilson Douglas, a protege of French Carpenter, relates "There was quite a few who played in the contest; but Saul put these two high notes in. That tune, he called it 'Camp Chase.' It was some kind of a tune before but they hadn't named it yet. And when he got out of there he called it 'Camp Chase,' and it's gone by that name ever since." Although Sol gained his freedom in the contest he had to sign a parole, pledging not to take up arms against the Union; as the story goes, he ignored this and headed south to join another Confederate unit.
**
Alan Jabbour notes a similarity between one of the versions of "Camp Chase" and "George Booker," and suspects it may be the latter that was played in the contest; the name "Camp Chase" may then have been applied to the tune by W.Va. fiddlers who were familiar with the legend and Solly's Carpenter's music (Bill Hicks {1972}; Krassen {1983}). "George Booker" seems related, notes Jabbour, to the 18th century Scottish strathspey "The Marquis of Huntly's Farewell."
**
It will be noted that there are similar such legends in British Isles and other traditions in which a fiddler tries to play his way to freedom (or plays a masterpiece just before he is executed). Perhaps the oldest, and certainly one of the most famous, is the myth of the Greek harper Orpheus, who played his way out of Hades. See also the tunes "MacPherson's Farewell," "Last of Callahan," "Callahan" and the Cajun "Guilbeau's Waltz" and "Valse a Napoleon" which have similar tales attached.
**
Sources for notated versions: French Carpenter (WVa) [Krassen]; Bruce Molsky [Phillips]. Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1983; pg 58-59. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 44. Augusta Heritage Recordings AHR-004C, Harvey Sampson and the Big Possum String Band - "Flat Foot in the Ashes" (1986/1994. Learned by Calhoun County, W.Va., fiddler Harvey Sampson, probably from one of the Carpenter family). Shanachie Records 6040, Gerry Milnes & Lorraine Lee Hammond - "Hell Up Coal Holler" (1999).
COIM-SEASAM NA BEIDLEADOIR. AKA and see "The Fiddlers' Contest."
COON BUNCH. Old-Time. One of the tunes mentioned as having been played in a 1931 account of a LaFollette, N.E. Tenn. fiddlers' contest.
DEVIL IN THE WHEAT PATCH. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Ga. Tune played by Fiddlin' John Carson (North Ga.) in a 1914 Atlanta, Ga., fiddlers' contest.
FESTIVAL WALTZ. Bluegrass, Waltz. USA, Missouri. A Major. Standard. AA (Brody): ABB' (Matthiesen). Composed (copyrighted 1972) by Kenny Baker, longtime fiddler for Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. It has become a popular "contest" waltz, prone to embellishment. Source for notated version: Bo Bradham (Charlottesville, VA) [Matthiesen]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 103-104. Matthiesen (Waltz Book II), 1995; pgs. 18-19. American Heritage 516, Jana Greif- "I Love Fiddlin.'" County 736, Kenny Baker- "Kenny Baker Country." County 2705, Kenny Baker - "Master Fiddler." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Lyman Enloe (b. 1906, Mo.). Rounder 0046, Mark O'Conner- "National Junior Fiddle Champion." Ruthie Dornfeld - "American Cafe Orchestra." Pete Jung & Bo Bradham- "Moving Clouds."
T:Festival Waltz
M:3/4
L:1/8
K:A
CB,|A,2C3E|G2F3E|F2G2A2|C4CB,|A,2C3E|G2F3E|F2D2C2|(B,4B,)A,|
B,2C2D2|E2F2G2|A2G3A|G4GF|E2B,3E|=C4E2|(C4C)D|C4CB,|
A,2C3E|G2F3E|F2G2A2|C4CB,|A,CEGAc|B4A2|a2f3A|f4AA|
a2f3A|a2=f3A|a2e2cB|A2E2GB|e4e2|c3dcB|(A4A)B|ABcd(3efg|
a3baf|g3age|f3gfe|c4ee|f2e2cB|A2c3e|e2d2B2|G4E2|
b2g3a|g2f2e2|b2g3a|g4gf|e2B3e|=c4e2|(c4c)d|c3Ace|
a3baf|g3age|f3gfe|c4AA|A2B2=c2|c3BA2|a2f3A|f4AA|
a2f3A|a2=f3A|a2e2cB|A2E2GB|e4e2|c3dcB|(A4A)B|A4|
FISHER'S HORNPIPE (Crannciuil {Ui} Fishuir). AKA "The Fisher's," "Fisherman's Hornpipe." AKA and see "The Blacksmith's Hornpipe" (Ireland {Joyce}), "China Orange Hornpipe," "Egg Hornpipe," "Fisherman's Lilt," "The First of May," "Kelly's Hornpipe" [3], "Lord Howe's Hornpipe," "O'Dwyer's Hornpipe," "Peckhover Walk Hornpipe," "Roger MacMum" (Irish), "Sailor's Hornpipe," "Wigs on the Green" (Ireland {Roche}). English, Irish, Scottish, Shetlands, Canadian, Old-Time, Texas Style, Bluegrass; Hornpipe, Reel, Breakdown. USA & Canada, widely known. D Major {most modern versions}: G Major {often in the Galax, Va. area, also Bayard's version collected in Prince Edward Island}: A Major (Mississippi fiddler Charles Long): F Major {Burchenal, Cranford, Honeyman, Linscott, Miller & Perron, Miskoe & Paul, Perlman, Raven, Phillips/1995, Welling}. Standard or ADAD. AABB (most versions): AA'BB (Perlman): AA'BB' (Miskoe & Paul). On the subject of the title, several writers have posited various speculations on who the 'Fisher' might have been. Charles Wolfe, among others, believes it was originally a classical composition by German composer Johann Christian Fischer (1733-1800), a friend of Mozart's, which thought Samuel Bayard (1981) concurs, noting the tune goes back to latter 18th century England where it was composed by "J. Fishar" and "published in 1780" (Most of the alternate titles he gives {and which appear above} are "floaters"). Van Cleef and Keller (1980) identify the composer as probably one James A. Fishar, a musical director and ballet master at Covent Garden during the 1770's, and note it is included as "Hornpipe #1" in J. Fishar's (presumably James A. Fishar's) Sixteen Cotillons Sixteen Minuets Twelve Allemands and Twelve Hornpipes (John Rutherford, London, 1778). A few years later the melody appeared in England under the title "Lord Howe's Hornpipe" in Longman and Broderip's 5th Selection of the Most Admired Dances, Reels, Minuets and Cotillions (London, c. 1784). McGlashan printed it about the same time in his Collection of Scots Measures (c. 1780, pg. 34) under the title "Danc'd by Aldridge," a reference to the famous stage dancer and pantomimist Robert Aldridge, a popular performer in the 1760's and 1770's. Although it is known in Europe as a hornpipe, it has also been played as a reel for dancing the Shetland Reel in Scotland's Shetland Islands. Linscott (1939) thinks the melody resembles an "ancient" Irish folk tune known as "Roger MacMum," implying it might have been derived from that source.
***
The tune became widely popular in a short span of time. It was already known as "Fisher's Hornpipe" in both England and the newly independent United States when it was written out by the American John Greenwood in his copybook for the German flute of c. 1783. Another 18th century American publication, a 1796 collection entitled An Evening Amusement for German Flute and Violin, was printed in Philadelphia by Carr and contains the hornpipe set in 'D' Major. An American country dance was composed to the tune and first appeared in this country in John Griffith's Collection, a Rhode Island publication of 1788. Both dance and tune became American classics and entered traditional repertory throughout the county. A fiddler with the Moses Cleaveland surveying party (the city of Cleveland, Ohio, is named after him) is recorded as having played "Fisher's" during an impromptu dance on the first evening the party camped on the banks of the Cuyahoga river, as recorded in the diary of a surveyor with the party. It was one of the most widely known fiddle tunes and, along with "Rickett's Hornpipe," the most popular hornpipe played in the Southern Appalachians (although as time went on hornpipes were not generally dropped from the repertoire, certainly as an accompaniment for dancing, but "Fishers" remained in the repertoire as a fiddler's tune which was frequently played when a few musicians would get together for their own enjoyment). The tune retained its popularity, and Jim Kimball states that both "Fishers" and "Ricketts" (along with "Devil's Dream" and "Soldier's Joy") were favorite tunes for the last figure of square dances in western New York state into the early 20th century.
***
Around the Galax, Va., region quite a few fiddlers, like Charlie Higgins and John Rector, play 'Fisher's' in the key of 'G' Major. Tommy Jarrell, of nearby Mt. Airy, N.C., plays the tune in 'D' Major, as did his father, Ben Jarrell, though the tune usually appears in 'F' Major in early collections (the earliest American appearance, John Greenwood's flute MS of 1783, has the tune in 'G,' however). 'F' Major renditions are still common (along with 'D' Major versions) among fiddlers in central and north Missouri-- though relatively rare in the Ozarks region of the state--perhaps because of the because of the influence of the old town orchestras or brass bands (with flat-keyd wind instruments), radio broadcasts from Canadian fiddlers, and local classically trained music professors. Despite the seeming prevalence of the hornpipe set in 'F' major in early publications, Jim Kimball finds that the John Carroll manuscript collection, copied before 1804, gives "Fisher's" in the key of D Major, as does the John Studderd manuscript, c. 1808-1815, and the John Seely manuscript, c. 1819-1830 (Carroll was an Irish-American military musician stationed at Fort Niagara at the time he wrote his manuscript who apparently played both fife and fiddle; Studderd was a native of England prior to emigrating to western New York state in the 1820's; Seely, according to family history, was a fiddler who lived in western New York state for whom "Fishers" was a favorite tune).
***
The title "Fisher's Hornpipe" has been mentioned frequently in periodicals and other printed sources in America over the years. For example, it was recorded as having been one of the catagory tunes at the 1899 Gallatin, Tenn., fiddlers contest; each fiddler would play his version of the tune, with the best rendition winning a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). Similarly, it was listed in the Fayette Northwest Alabamian of 8/29/1929 as one of the tunes likely to be played by local fiddlers at an upcoming convention (Cauthen, 1990). Moving north, another citation stated it had commonly been played for country dances in Orange County, New York, in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), while Burchenal (1918) printed a dance from New England of the same name to the tune. A Report of the Celebration Held in August 1914 for the 150th Anniversary of the Town of Lancaster (N.H.) gives the title as one of the tunes and dances performed at a cotillion that month. The title appears in a list of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham's repertoire (Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's) and Gibbons (1982) notes it has been "a traditional dance melody familiar to fiddlers throughout Canada." Perlman (1996) notes it has status as one of the "good old tunes" played by Prince Edward Island fiddlers. In the South and Midwest the tune was recorded for the Library of Congress from the playing of Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, and (by Herbert Halpert) from the playing of Mississippi fiddlers Charles Long and Stephen B. Tucker in 1939. The Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner related that it, in modern times, it was "played often at (the) Weiser (Idaho) annual (fiddle) contest" (Shumway), to which Louie Attebery (1979) concurs, calling it part of the "standard fare" of many fiddlers at that festival and contest.
***
In the repertiore of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1848-1931) {Texas, Tenn.}, and Buffalo Valley, Pa. dance fiddler Harry Daddario. See also "Miss Thompson's Reel," which particularly resembles the "Fisher's" in it's second section.
***
Sources for notated versions: Edson Cole (Freedom, N.H.) [Linscott]: Frank George (W.Va.) [Krassen]; Frank Lowery (Prince George, British Columbia) [Gibbons]; Lorin Simmonds (Prince Edward Island, 1944) [Bayard, 1981]; transplanted French-Canadian fiddler Omer Marcoux {1898-1982} (Concord, N.H.), who learned the tune when young in Quebec [Miskoe & Paul]; 6 southwestern Pa. fiddlers and fifers [Bayard, 1981]; Ruthie Dornfeld and Major Franklin (Texas) [Phillips/1995 {two different versions}]; accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border), recorded in recital at Na Piobairi Uilleann, February, 1981 [Moylan]; Dennis Pitre (b. 1941, St. Felix, West Prince County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]; Winston Fitzgerald (1914-1987, Cape Breton) [Cranford]; set dance music recorded at Na Píobairí Uilleann, in the 1980's [Taylor]. Allan's (Allan's Irish Fiddler), No. 105, pg. 27. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 345, pgs. 332-334 and Appendix No. 3, pg. 573. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 107. Burchenal (American Country Dances, Vol. 1), 1918; pg. 47. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 57. Cranford (Fitzgerald), 1997; No. 45, pg. 17. Ford (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 39. Gibbons (As It Comes: Folk Fiddling From Prince George, British Columbia), 1982; No. 6, pgs. 18-19. Honeyman (Strathspey, Reel and Hornpipe Tutor), 1898; pg. 40 (two versions, one in Newcastle and Sand Dance style, on in Sailor's style). Jarman, Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes; No. 20, pg. 67. Johnson & Luken (Twenty-Eight Country Dances as Done at the New Boston Fair), Vol. 8, 1988; pg. 4. Joyce (Old Irish Folk Music and Song), 1909; No. 103. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 79. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 3, pg. 42. Linscott (Folk Music of Old New England), 1939; pg. 77. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddlers Repertoire), 1983; No. 117. Miskoe & Paul (Omer Marcoux), 1994; pg. 31. Moylan (Johnny O'Leary), 1994; No. 63, pg. 36. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 351, pg. 171. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 168. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; Nos. 1575 & 1576, pg. 292. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 825, pg. 143. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 117. Phillips, 1989 (Fiddlecase Tunebook: Old-Time); pg. 19. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pgs. 1992-193. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 163. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1977; pg. 26. Roche Collection, Vol. 3, No. 181. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 23, pg. 10. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 10. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 297. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 42. Taylor (Music for the Sets: Yellow Book), 1995; pg. 14. Welling (Welling's Hartford Tunebook), 1976; pg. 20. Alcazar Dance Series FR 204, "New England Chestnuts" (1981). Breton Books and Records BOC 1HO, Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald - "Classic Cuts" (reissue of Celtic Records CX 17). Caney Mountain CEP 212 (privately issued extended play album), Lonnie Robertson (Mo.), 1965-66. Claddagh CC5, Denis Murphy & Julia Clifford - "The Star Above the Garter" (appears as "Fisherman's Hornpipe"). County 405, "The Hill-Billies." County 707, Major Franklin- "Texas Fiddle Favorites." County 756, Tommy Jarrell- "Sail Away Ladies" (1986. The only time Tommy's famous fiddling father, Ben Jarrell {who took no active part in his musical education and rarely commented on his son's efforts}, praised his playing in front of him was after hearing the younger fiddler play the tune, remarking "By gawd, that's the best I've ever heard "Fisher's Hornpipe" played"). Elektra EKS 7285, The Dillards with Byron Berline- "Pickin' and Fiddlin.'" F&W Records 4, "The Canterbury Country Orchestra Meets the F&W String Band." Folkways FA 2381, "The Hammered Dulcimer as played by Chet Parker" (1966). Folkways FG 3531, Jean Carignan- "Old Time Fiddle Tunes" (1968). Fretless 101, "The Campbell Family: Champion Fiddlers." Gourd Music 110, Barry Phillips - "The World Turned Upside Down" (1992). North Star NS0038, "The Village Green: Dance Music of Old Sturbridge Village." Rounder 0035, Fuzzy Mountain String Band- "Summer Oaks and Porch" (1973). Rounder 7004, Joe Cormier- "The Dances Down Home" (1977). Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40126, Northern Spy - "Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire" (1999). Topic 12T309, Padraig O'Keeffe, Denis Murphy & Julia Clifford - "Kerry Fiddles" (appears as "Fisherman's Hornpipe").
X:1
T:Fisher's Hornpipe
L:1/8
M:C|
K:F
|:c2|fc Ac Bd cB|Ac Ac Bd cB|Ac Fc Bd Gd|Ac FA G2 (3cde|
fc Ac Bd cB|Ac Fc Bd cB|AB cd ef ge|f2a2f2:|
|:ef|ge ce ge bg|af cf af ba|ge ce ga ba|gf ed c2 Bc|
dB FB dB fd|cA FA cA fc|df ed cB AG|F2A2F2:|
X:2
T:Fishers
L:1/8
M:C|
R:Hornpipe
B:The Athole Colletion
K:D
dc|dAFA GBAG|FAFA GBAG|FDFD GEGE|FDFD E2 dc|dAFA GBAG|
FAFA GBAG|FAdf gedc|d2 d2 d2:||:cd|ecAc ecge|fdAd fdaf|ecAc ecgf|
edcB A3A|BGDG BGdB|AFDF AFdA|BdcB AGFE|D2 D2 D2:|
FLANNERY'S DREAM. AKA - "Son of Hober." Old-Time, Breakdown. Standard. There are several tunes played be Kentucky fiddlers called "Flannery's Dream.
Warner Waton tells the story that Flannery was supposedly a Revolutionary War fiddler who was under a sentence of death. The commanding officer, knowing he could play, agreed to set him free if Flannery could play him a tune he hadn't heard. Flannery dreamt this tune the night before his scheduled execution. John Hartford thinks Flannery may have been a Civil War figure rather than a Revolutionary War soldier, and the story is similar to one told about Solly Carpenter (see note for "Camp Chase"). Hartford notes the Flannery family is a large and old one from Elliott County, Kentucky. Another common story attached to the tune (and told by Alva Greene, for one) is that a man named Flannery dreamed this tune and won a contest with it (Hartford, 1996). Bluegrass multi-instumentalist Ricky Skaggs recorded a version called "Son of Hober." Berea AC007, Roger Cooper (Garrison, Ky.). Rounder 0151, Ricky Skaggs (appears as "Son of Hober," a title which honors Skaggs' father). Rounder 0376, Alva Greene. Rounder 0392, John Hartford - "Wild Hog in the Red Brush (and a Bunch of Others You Might Not Have Heard)" {1996. Learned from Ricky Skaggs who learned it from Sanford Kelly}. Gerry Milnes & Lorraine Lee Hammonds - "Hell Up Cold Holler." Rounder Records, "Traditional Fiddle Music of Kentucky, Vol. 1." Brad Leftwich - "Say Old Man." Rounder Records, James Bryan - "The First of May." Shanachie Records 6040, Gerry Milnes & Lorriane Lee Hammond - "Hell Up Coal Holler" (1999. Learned from an old Kentucky fiddler, Sanford Kelly).
GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME, THE [1] (or "An Spailpin Fanach"). AKA and see "As Slow Our Ship," "Brighton Camp," "The Gal I Left Behind Me," "Pretty Little Girl" (I Left Behind Me), "An Spailpin/Spalpeen Fanach," "The Rambling Laborer," "The Wandering Harvest Labourer." Old-Time, American, Irish, Scottish, English; March, Two-Step, Polka, Set, Sword, Country and Morris Dance Tune (2/4 time). G Major (almost all versions): A Flat Major (O'Sullivan/Bunting): C Major (Ashman). Standard. One part (Linscott, Raven): AB (Bayard, O'Sullivan/Bunting, Shaw): AABB (Ashman, Brody, Ford, Kennedy, Perlman, Phillips, Sweet, Tubridy): AABBCC (Hall & Stafford).
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There are many conflicting theories about the exact origins and dates of the tune that is claimed vociferously by both the English and Irish. "The Irish name, according to Bunting (1840), is 'The S(p)ailpin Fanach' or "The Rambling Laborer.' The music and words were printed in Dublin in 1791, although it was known much earlier. It is claimed by one authority that this tune originated when Admirals Hawke and Rodney were watching the French Fleet off the coast in 1758. Still another opinion assertes that in Queen Elizabeth's time it was very popoular and was played when a man-of-war weighed anchor or when a regiment moved in or out of town." (Linscott, 1939). "The song derives from an old British marching song; Spaeth identifies it with an Irish folk-tune, first written down in 1800...(also closely related to) "Brighton Camp" to which William Chappell (1893) assigns the date 1758 (See note on "Brighton Camp" for more details, esp. regarding Chappell's research). Kidson (Groves) can date it with confidence only from 1797, from a manuscript collection then in his possession. Fuld (1966) insists that the manuscripts Chappell refers to have not been located, and despite the persistent thought that the tune was known as "Brighton Camp" no printings of the melody under that name have been found to exist. Kidson (Groves) does find evidence of the melody as "Brighton Camp," although not before its publication in The Gentleman's Amusement c. 1810. Alfred Moffat, for one, in his Minstrelsy of Ireland (pg. 14) maintains that while it may be true that the British knew the tune in 1758-59 during the encampments of Rodney and Hawke, it still is quite possible the air was imported from Ireland, citing its "Irish flavour" and its resemblance to the Irish melody "The Rose tree in full bearing."
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Moffat maintains Bunting's version "is a mere parody on the genuine air," an opinion that Kidson (Groves) agrees with, saying the Bunting's elaborate version (as with Moore's) "quite destroy the strongly marked rhythm of the simple marching form." Chappell and Bunting communicated about "The Girl I Left Behind Me," the latter writing in 1840 to the English musicologist: "It is a pretty tune, and has been played for the last fifty years, to my knowledge, by the fifes and drums, and bands of different regiments, on their leaving the towns for new quarters." Some writers maintain that Bunting may have been conservative in his date and say that there is evidence that "The Girl I Left Behind Me" was often played in the years before the American Revolution when a British naval vessel set sail or and army unit left for service abroad. This may have inspired Thomas Moore write his song "As slow our ship," published in Irish Melodies in 1818, to the air "Girl I Left Behind Me."
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"The Girl I Left Behind Me" has a long and illustrious history in America. Dolph (1929) prints a standard text popular at the time of the Civil War, which was a great favorite with Gen. George Custer, and is still the official regimental song of the 7th Cavalry (see also "Garryowen"). "My grandfather tells me that he heard it played by bands in both armies at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, in 1862" (Vance Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, Vol. III, 1980). Cauthen (1990) finds reference to its being played during the Civil War in an account by Georgia fiddler Ben Smith of the 12th Alabama Infantry; she calls it a "show tune" which was popularized during that war and which entered folk tradition through discharged soldiers. The United States army troop [The Old Guard] at Fort Snelling, Minesota, considered it a favorite in the 19th century. Today it remains in use by the army and is played at the United States Military Academy at West Point as part of the medley for the cadets' final formation at graduation.
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Notwithstanding its popularity as a song or martial air, "The Girl" gained renewed currency as a dance tune in the South. Linscott (1939) remarks that in New England it was a great march favorite and that it "has always been popular as a country dance tune." The piece was a 'catagory tune' in an 1899 Gallatin, Tenn., fiddle contest; each fiddler would play his (or her?) rendition, with the best version winning a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). It was cited as having commonly been played at Orange County, New York country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), and was in the repertoire of Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner whose hey-day was in the early 20th century. Also in repertories of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (1848-1931) {Texas, Tenn.) as "The Girl I Left Behind," Mainer Mellie Dunham (Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's), and Buffalo Valley, Pa., dance fiddlers Harry Daddario and Ralph Sauers. It was recorded for the Library of Congress by folklorist/muicologist Vance Randolph in the early 1940's from Ozark Mountain fiddlers.
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The English novelist Thomas Hardy, himself an accordionist and fiddler, mentioned the tune in scene notes to The Dynasts:
***
A June sunrise; the beams struggling through the window curtains.
A canopied bed in a recess on the left. The quick notes of 'Brighton
Camp' or 'The Girl I Left Behind Me,' strike sharply into the room
from fifes and drums without.
***
Morris and sword dance versions in this setting of the tune have been collected from the Abingdon, Handsworth, Bampton, Longborough, and Lichfield, England, areas, {the latter has a 'C' part which is the tune 'Here we go round the Mulberry bush...'}. In Scotland "The Girl I Left Behind Me" was the name of a solo dance with twelve steps and was performed to "The Girl..." melody. This Scottish dance was transported to Cape Breton and entered dance tradition there where it was performed during the 19th century.
***
Sources for notated versions: harper Arthur O'Neill, 1800 (Ireland) [Bunting]; John McDermott (New York State, 1926) [Bronner]; 10 southwestern Pa. fifers and fiddlers [Bayard, 1981]; William Garrett with Hack's String Band [Phillips]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; caller George Van Kleeck (Woodland Valley, Catskill Mtns., New York) [Cazden]; Angus McPhee (b. c. 1924, Mt. Stewert, Queens County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]. American Veteran Fifer, No. 64. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 2b, pg. 1. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 338A-J, pg. 322-325. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 119. Bronner, 1987; No. 4, pg. 27 (appears as last tune of "Virginia Reel Medley." Bruce-Emmett (Fifer's Guide), 1880; pg. 52. Bunting, 1840; pg. 43. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 9. Cazden, 1955; pg. 14. Chappell (Popular Music of the Olden Times), Vol. 2, 1859; pgs. 187-188 (appears as "Brighton Camp"). Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 116. Hall & Stafford, 1974; pg. 12. Hazeltine (Instructor in Martial Music), 1820; pg. 29. Howe, Diamond School for the Violin, 1861; pgs. 51, 61, 62. Hulbert, 182?; pg. 19. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tune)s; No. or pg. 7. Karpeles (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 31. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 55, pg. 27. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 3; pg. 41. Linscott (The Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 79-80. Moffat, (202 Gems), pg. 8. Neal (Esperance Morris Book), 1910; pg. 19. Old Fort Snelling Instruction Book for the Fife, 1974; pg. 35. O'Malley, 1919; pgs. 26, 35. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 972. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 972, pg. 167 (appears as "The Spalpeen Fanach"). O'Sullivan/Bunting, 1983; No. 57, pgs. 87-90. Ostling, 1939; pg. 10. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 153. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 97. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 94. Riley (Flute Melodies), 1814; Vol. 1, No. 349. Sharp (Country Dance Tunes), Set 1, 1911; pg. 1. Sharp (Sword Dance Tunes), 1911-1913; Book 1, 5, Book 3, pgs. 4 & 12. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 382. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 45. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Vol. 1), 1999; pg. 10. White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pg. 72. Augusta Heritage Records 003, Ernie Carpenter, "Elk River Blues: Traditional Tunes From Braxton County, W.Va." (appears as "Pretty Little Girl I Left Behind Me"). Brunswick (78 RPM), John McDermot (central N.Y.), 1926 (appears as last tune of "Virginia Reel Medley"). Cassette C-7625, Wilson Douglas - "Back Porch Symphony." Mag, Hubert and Ted Powers- "Powers Town Music." Edison 51381 (78 RPM), Jasper Bisbee (Mich.), 1923. Folk Legacy Records FSA-17, Hobart Smith - "America's Greatest Folk Intsrumentalist" (appears as middle tune of "Banjo Group 2"). Gennett 6826 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts (Ky.). OKeh 45150 (78 RPM), Franklin Co., Va., fiddler Howard Maxey {1882-1947} (1927). Paramont 3017 (78 RPM), 1927, John Baltzell (Mt. Vernon, Ohio). RCA Victor LCP 1001, Ned Landry and His New Brunswick Lumberjacks - "Bowing the strings with Ned Landry." Tradition TLP 1007, Richard Chase - "Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians," 1956. Victor 36402A (78 RPM), Woodhull's Old Tyme Masters (N.Y.), 1941. Voyager 340, Jim Herd - "Old Time Ozark Fiddling."
T:Girl I Left Behind Me, The
L:1/8
M:2/4
S:Shaw - Cowboy Dances
K:G
g/f/|ed c/B/A/G/|AG E>F|GG G/A/B/c/|d2 B(g/f/)|ed c/B/A/G/|AG E>G|FA DE/F/|
G2G2||GB de/f/|gd B>G|Bd ef|g2 f(g/f/)|ed c/B/A/G/|AG E>G|FA DE/F/|G2G2||
GIVE THE FIDDLER A DRAM [2]. AKA - "Fiddler a Dram." Unrelated to "Dance All Night." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia. G Mixolydian (Brody, Phillips/Carlton): A Mixolydian (Chase, W.E. Claunch, Phillips/Honig). Standard. AABB (Brody, Phillips/Carlton): AA'BB (Chase): AA'BBCC (Phillips/Honig). One version of this tune was played at a 1931 LaFollette, north-east Tennessee fiddlers' contest, according to a local newspaper of the time. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. It was also listed by the Fayette Northwest Alabamian of August 19th, 1929, as one of the tunes likely to be played at an uncoming fiddlers' convention (Cauthen, 1990), and was recorded in 1939 for the Library of Congress by Herbert Halpert from the playing of Mississippi fiddler W.E. Claunch. Gerry Milnes, in the notes for his album "Hell Up Coal Creek," writes that this tune was one of old Tom Dillon's (of Webster County, W.Va.) showpiece tune. Dillon was a character who busked around sandlot baseball games for drinks and tips, often dancing while he played. Another trick of his was to play with two bows strapped together. Sources for notated versions: banjoist C.B. Wohlford (Marion, Virginia) [Chase]; Gaither Carlton (N.C.) [Phillips]; Peter Honig [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 121. Chase (American Folk Tales and Songs), 1956; pg. 207. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 98 (two versions). County Records, Carter Brothers and Son- "Echoes of the Ozarks, Vol. 1." Flying Fish FF-246, Red Clay Ramblers - "Hard Times" (1981). Flying Fish 70572, Frank Ferrel - "Yankee Dreams: 'Wicked Good Fiddling from New England'" (1990). Front Hall FHR-037, Mark Graham - "Natural Selections" (1987). Marimac 9038, Dan Gellert & Brad Leftwich - "A Moment in Time." Rounder 0006, Country Cooking- "Fourteen Bluegrass Instrumentals." Rounder CD0364, Brad Leftwich - "The Marimac Anthology: Deep in Old-Time Music." Shanachie Records 6040, Gerry Milnes & Lorraine Lee Hammond - "Hell Up Coal Holler" (1999). Voyager 340, Jim Herd - "Old Time Ozark Fiddling."
GOING DOWN (TO) TOWN. AKA and see "Monkey Show." Old-Time, Breakdown. The tune, according to Guthrie Meade (1980), dates back to pre-Civil War days. Played by M.Y. Robinson (Dunwoody, Ga.), at a 1913 Atlanta, Ga., fiddlers contest.
GOLDEN SLIPPERS. American; Reel, Two-Step, Polka, and Song Tune. USA, widely known, esp. in the northern tradition. D Major (Brody, Ford): C Major (Jarman): G Major (Bronner, Phillips, Reiner, Shaw, Sweet). Standard. AB (Bronner): AAB (Phillips, Shaw): AABB' (Brody, Reiner): AABB (Jarman, Ford): AABB' (Sweet). Originally a song composed in by prominent black minstrel songwriter and banjo player (with Haverly's Minstrels) James A. Bland in 1870 as "Oh! Dem Golden Slippers," which later passed into folk and fiddling tradition (Bland also wrote "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" and "In the Evening by the Moonlight"). Due to this dissemination it appeared in song collections without credit to Bland, and was noted by several collectors in folk tradition in the early twentieth century (e.g. Frank C. Brown's Folk Songs from North Carolina). Played in the key of F Major by Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner, who played the tune in harmony with another fiddler for dances in the early 20th century (Shumway). In repertory of Buffalo Valley Pa. dance fiddler Ralph Sauers. This was one of the tunes described by the Clarke County Democrat (southwest Alabama) of May 9th, 1929, that "assuredly would be rendered in the most approved fashion" at a contest in Grove Hill, Alabama. One version of the lyrics goes:
***
Oh my golden slippers are laid away,
Cause I don"t expect to wear them til my wedding day,
And my long-tailed coat that I love so well,
I will wear up in the chariot in the morning
***
Chorus
***
And the long white robe that I bought last June,
I'm goin to get it changed cause it fits too soon,
And the old grey horse that I used to ride,
I will hitch up to the chaiot in the morning
***
Chorus
O dem golden slippers, O dem golden slippers
dem golden slippers I'm gwine to wear cause they look so neat;
O dem golden slippers, O dem golden slippers
dem golden slippers I'm gwine te wear to cross the golden street.
***
Oh, my old banjo hangs on the wall,
'Cause it ain't been tuned since way last fall,
But the old folks say we will have a good time,
When we ride up in the chariot in the morning,
***
Chorus
***
There's old Brother Ben and Sister Luce,
They will telegraph the news to Uncle Bacco Juice
What a great camp meeting there will be that day,
When we ride up in the chariot in the morning
***
Sources for notated versions: Fennigs All Stars (N.Y.) [Brody]; Clyde McLean, 1976 (New York State) [Bronner]. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 123. Bronner (Old-Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 24, pg. 105. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 113 (appears as "Dem Golden Slippers;" song lyrics on pg. 410). Jarman (The Cornhuskers Book of Square Dance Tunes), 1944; pg. 9. Johnson (The Kitchen Musician's No. 7: Michigan Tunes), Vol. 7, 1986-87; pg. 1. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; pg. 28. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 99. Reiner (Anthology of Fiddle Styles), 1979; pg. 77. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 383. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 19. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 6. Biograph 6008, Delaware Water Gap- "Fox Hollow String Band Festival." Brunswick 313 (78 RPM), Lonnie Austin (1929). County 705, Buddy Pendelton- "Virginia Breakdown." Folkways FA 2337, Clark Kessinger- "Live at Union Grove." Fretless Records 101, "The Campbell Family: Champion Fiddlers." Front Hall 01, Fennigs All Stars- "The Hammered Dulcimer." Front Hall 023, Michael, McCreesh & Campbell - "Host of the Air" (1980). Gennet 14060 (78 RPM), The Tweedy Brothers (Wheeling, West Virginia brothers Harry and George on fiddles, Charles on piano), 1928, unissued. Kicking Mule 204, John Burke- "The Old-Time Banjo in America." Mag 3901, Sumner and McReynolds- "Old Friends." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Vee Latty (1910-1956) - "Fever in the South." Okehdokee Records, Deseret String Band - "The Land of Milk and Honey" (c. 1974). Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40126, Lester Bradley & Friends - "Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire" (1999).
T:Golden Slippers
L:1/8
M:C
K:D
de|f2f2 fede|f2f2f2de|f2f2 fedf|e2e2e2cd|e2e2 edcd|e2e2e2 cd|e2g2f2e2|1 e2d2d2:|2
d2d2B2_B2||
|:A3A A2d2|f2e2d2A2|B3B B2e2|g2f2e2d2|c2cc c2d2|1 e2 ee e2A2|d2 dd d2e2|
f2e2B2_B2:|2 e2 ee e2ee|e2g2f2e2|e2d2d2||
GREY EAGLE [1]. AKA and see "Gray Eagle." AKA - "Grey Eagle Hornpipe." Old-Time, Bluegrass, Texas Style; Breakdown, Hornpipe. USA; Alabama, Mississippi, southwestern Va., southwestern Pa., western N.C., eastern Tenn., Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona. A Major (most versions): G Major (Bayard, W.E. Claunch): C Major (uncommon, but known in the western N.C./ eastern Tenn. area in this key). Standard. AB (Bayard): AABB (Brody, Krassen, Phillips): AA'BB (Shumway): AABBCC (Christeson): AA'BB'CC'D (Frets Magazine). "One of the standard square dance tunes in the key of A Major" (Krassen, 1973), and, in fact it is one of the more commonly played fiddle tunes at mid-western fiddle contests. Several writers have noted the similarity between "Grey Eagle" and the Scottish tune "Miller of Drone," with the "Grey Eagle" melody probably derivative. There are many different sets of this tune collected from folk sources in almost all parts of the South and West; in addition it has made its way into numerous commercial collections, among the first of which is George H. Coes' Album of Music (Boston, 1876). It was one of the older tunes in fiddle repertory in Patrick County, southwest Va., before such tunes were supplanted by tunes more conducive to the fiddle/clawhammer banjo combination -- the tune may also have been called "Ducks on the Pond" (??) (Tom Carter & Blanton Owen, 1976). Bayard (1981) is surprised at the tenacity of the title in the face of so many disperate versions./ Popular with Kentucky fiddlers, remarks Charles Wolfe (1982), who first suggested it was possibly named for the famous Kentucky race horse of 1839. John Hartford ("The Devil's Box") found that the "Grey Eagle" title for the melody known as "The Miller of Drone" became attached to the tune in America following this famous late 1830's race between horses known as "Grey Eagle" and "Wagner." In the repertoire (C Major version) of legendary fiddler J. Dedrick Harris, a Tenn. born fiddler who played regularly with Bob Taylor when the latter ran for Governor of the state in the late 1800's. Harris moved to western N.C. in the 1920's and influenced a generation of fiddlers there, including Osey Helton, Manco Sneed, Bill Hensley, and Marcus Martin./ In the Deep South the melody was in the repertory of Alabama fiddler D. Dix Hollis (1861-1927), who considered it one of "the good old tunes of long ago" (as quoted in the "Opelika Daily News" of April 17, 1926) {Cauthen, 1990}, and was recorded for the Library of Congress in 1939 by Guntown, Mississippi, fiddler W.E. Claunch. It was also one of the tunes listed in the Troy Herald of July 6th, 1926, as having been played at a fiddlers' convention held at the Pike County, Alabama, fairgrounds. / Part of the tune the same as "Ostinelli's Reel" (Cole)./ Arizona fiddler (and Mormon) Kenner C. Kartchner maintained the tune was played by Mormon fiddlers crossing the plains. Sources for notated versions: Kenny Baker [Brody]; Floyd Smith (Cole County, Missouri) [Christeson]; Charlie Higgins (Galax, Va.) [Krassen]; Kenner C. Kartchner (Arizona) [Shumway]; William Shape (elderly fiddler from Greene County, Pa., 1930's) [Bayard]; Byron Berline learned the tune from his father who had it from his friend Frank Mitchell (Enid, Oklahoma) [Frets Magazine]; Jeff Goehring with the Red Mules (Ohio) [Phillips]; Howard Forrester, Robert Rutland & Herman Johnson [Phillips/1995]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 103, pg. 60. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 127. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 12. Ford, 1940; pg. 86. Frets Magazine, "Byron Berline: The Fiddle," February 1981; pg. 52. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 73. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 106 (breakdown versions). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 2, 1995; pg. 197 (hornpipe version). Shumway, 1990; pg. 268. Christeson says the tune also appears in Harding's All-Around Collection of Jigs and Reels (1905, New York) and in 1935 in 100 WLS Barn Dance Favorites (Chicago). Briar 0798, Earl Collins- "That's Earl." County 202, "Eck Robertson: Famous Cowboy Fiddler." County 703, Bartow Riley- "Texas Hoedown." County 705, Sonny Miller- "Virginia Breakdown." County 722, Joe Greene- "Joe Greene's Fiddle Album." County 744, Kenny Baker- "Dry and Dusty." Gennett Records (78 RPM), Taylor's Kentucky Boys (1927. Featuring the only black hoedown fiddler to recorde commerically, Jim Booker). Global Village C-302, Chicken Chokers - "New York City's 1st Annual String Band Contest - 1984." June Appal 007, Thomas Hunter- "Deep in Tradition" (1976. Learned from his grandfather, fiddler James W. Hunter of Madison County, N.C.). MGM E4035, Howdy Forrester - "Fancy Fiddlin' Country Style." Missouri Old Time Fiddlers Association 002, Taylor McBaine (b. 1911) - "Boone County Fiddler." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Dwight Lamb (b. 1934) - "Old Ladies Pickin' Chickens." Morning Star 45003, Taylor's Kentucky Boys - "Wink the Other Eye: Old-Time Fiddle Band Music from Kentucky" (1980. Originally recorded in 1927). Rounder 0068, Mark O'Conner- "Pickin' in the Wind." Rounder 0099, Dan Crary - "Lady's Fancy." Rounder 0100, Byron Berline- "Dad's Favorites." Rounder 0194, John W. Summers - "Indiana Fiddler" (1984). Rounder 0213, The Chicken Chokers - "Chokers and Flies" (1985) Rounder 0215, James Bryan - "The First of May" (1985). Vocalation 14839 (78 RPM), Uncle Am Stuart, 1924, (b. 1856, Morristown, Tenn.). Voyager 309, Benny & Jerry Thomasson - "The Weiser Reunion" (1993). Voyager VRCD 344, Howard Marshall & John Williams - "Fiddling Missouri" (1999). In the repertoire of Western N.C. fiddler Osey Helton (C Major version).
T:Grey Eagle
Z:Nigel Gatherer
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:A
cB|A2 FA ECA,C|EFAc BABc|A2 FA ECA,C|EF (3ABc e2 (3cec|
A2 FA ECA,C|EFAc (3BcB Ac|eAce dcBG|EGBd (3cec:|]
AF|ecAe cAeA|fdAd fgaf|edce cecA|EGBc dBGB|
AecA ecAc|dABd faeg|abga (3faf ed|ceBc A2:|]
HELL BROKE LOOSE IN GEORGIA. AKA and see "There's No Hell in Georgia," "Hell Bound for Alabama," "Been to the East, Been to the West," "Great Big Yam Potatoes." Old-Time, Breakdown. C Major ('A', 'B' and 'D' parts) & A Minor ('C' part). Standard. AABCC'DD'. The title perhaps dates to the gold rush in Georgia before the settlement of Gordon County in 1850 (approx. c. 1830). There are three distinct fiddle tunes that have been identified with this title. The tune was used in 1899 in a Gallatin Tenn. fiddle contest as a catagory tune - each fiddler played a version, with the best version winning a prize (all fiddlers playing a rendition of the same commonly known tune was formerly a common way of structuring fiddle contests) [C.Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No.4, 12/1/80]. Cauthen (1990) finds reference to a Georgia fiddler, Ben Smith, who served with the 12th Alabama Infantry in the Civil War, and was known to have played the tune in that conflict. She also cites A.B. Moore in his "History of Alabama" (1934) who said it was one of the standard tunes in the square dance fiddler's repertoire. The melody "Streak O' Lean, Streak O' Fat" is related to Phillips' version of the tune. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Source for notated version: Ruthie Dornfeld (Seattle) [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 110. Songer (Portland Collection). County 526, "The Skillet Lickers, Vol. 2" (1975). Heritage 048, Lowe Stokes - "Georgia Fiddle Bands" (Brandywine, 1982). Oken 45018 (78 RPM), Fiddlin' John Carson (Atlanta, Ga.). Ruthie Dornfeld and the American Café Orchestra - "Egyptian Dominoes."
HEN CACKLE(D). AKA and see "Old Hen Cackled," "Cackling Hen," "Cluck Old Hen." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Alabama, north Georgia. The tune appeared on one side of the very first string band recording, by Gid Tanner and Riley Puckett, for Columbia in 1924. It was in the repertoire of Phil Reeve of Georgia Yellow Hammers (a contemporary band of Tanner's Skillet Licker's) fame as "Hen Cackled." It was noted by the "Clarke County Democrat" of May 9th, 1929, as one of the "popular old-time tunes" that assuradly would "be rendered in the most approved fashion" at a fiddlers' contest in Grove Hill, southwest Alabama. The title also appears listed in a 1925 University of Alabama master's thesis entitled "A Preliminary Survey of Folk-Lore in Alabama," and in A.B. Moore's "History of Alabama" (1934) {where it appears in a list of standard tunes in the square dance fiddler's repertoire} [Cauthen, 1990]. Art Rosenbaum (1989) relates a story of how Carroll County, Georgia, banjoist Uncle John Patterson learned to play from his mother, champion banjo player Bessie Patterson. When she died in 1924 she made him promise never to let anyone beat him in a contest, and one month laer he found himself competing at the Fiddler's Convention in Atlanta's city auditorium. His primary competition was Fiddlin' John Carson's daughter Rosa Lee ("Moonshine Kate"), who had already played Patterson's best piece, "Spanish Fandango." "So the sixty-seven-pound boy, wearing a shirt made out of a flour sack, and a pair of his 'granddaddy's pistol pants' picked 'Hen Cackle' so spiritedly that 'old Gid Tanner, and even John Carson...got to cackling and got to crowing.'" Columbia 110-D (78 RPM), Tanner and Puckett (N. Ga.). County 543, Earl Johnson and His Clodhoppers (North Ga.) - "Red Hot Breakdown" (as "Hen Cackle"). Voyager VRLP 328-S, "Kenny Hall and the Long Haul String Band" (learned from Ron Huey).
HOG IN THE CORN PATCH. Old-Time. Tune mentioned as being played in a 1931 account of a LaFollette, N.E. Tenn., fiddlers' contest.
HOP LIGHT, LADIES. AKA and see "Hop High Ladies," "Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe," "Uncle Joe," "Walk Light Ladies," "Walk Jaw Bone," "Green Mountain," "Billy Boy," "The Cake's All Dough," "Miss McLeod's Reel," "Run Here, Johnny, There's a Bug Done Got on Me." USA; known in parts of Virginia (esp. Patrick County) and Tennessee under this title, and by Alabama fiddler D. Dix Hollis (1861-1927), who considered it one of "the good old tunes of long ago" (as mentioned in the Opelika Daily News of April 17th, 1926). Also played under this title by J.B. Crenshaw (Covington, Ga.) at a 1913 Atlanta, Ga., fiddlers' contest, and it is mentioned in reports of the De Kalb County (Alabama) Annual (Fiddlers) Conventions 1926-31. Under this title the tune was recorded by legendary Galax, Va., fiddler Emmett Lundy and by Steppville, Alabama, fiddler J.C. Glasscock (for the Gennett label, though it was unissued). The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes (as does its alternate, "Hop High Ladies") compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. A version played by elderly Franklin County, Georgia, banjoist Mabel Cawthorn was called "Run Here, Johnny, There's a Bug Done Got on Me." County 201, "The Old Virginia Fiddlers...Patrick County, Virginia." Rounder 0057, Frank Dalton and George Wood (Meadows of Dan, Patrick County, Va.) - "Old Originals, Vol. 1" (1978).
IRISH WASHERWOMAN, THE (An Bhean Niochain Eireannach). AKA and see "Corporal Casey," "Country Courtship," "Dargason," "Irishwoman," "The Irish Wash-Woman," "Irish Waterman," "Jackson's Delight," "Paddy McGinty's Goat," "The Wash Woman," "The Scheme," "The Snouts and Ears of America," "Star at Liwis," "Sedany." Irish, English, Scottish, American; Double Jig. USA; Very widely known. G Major ('B' part is in G Mixolydian in some Scottish versions). Standard. AA'B (Breathnach): AABB (most versions): AA'BB' (Gow, Perlman): AABBCC (Ashman). Although the tune has popularly been known as an old, and perhaps quintessential Irish jig, it has been proposed by some writers to have been an English country dance tune that was published in the 17th century and probably known in the late 16th century. Samuel Bayard (1981), for example, concludes it probably was English in origin rather than Irish, being derived from the air called "Dargason," or "Sedany" as it is sometimes called. Fuld (1966) disagrees, believing "Dargason" (which he gives under the title "Scotch Bagpipe Melody") and "The Irish Washerwoman" developed independently. "Dargason" was first printed in Ravenscroft's Pammelia (1609) and appears in the Playford's Dancing Master editions from 1651 to 1690, but subsequently the "folk process" melded the strain to other parts, thus making other tunes (see "The Green Garters" for example) including the precursors to the Washerwoman tune. One of these precursors was the English tune "Country Courtship" which dates from at least 1715 and probably to 1688, in which latter mentioned year it was first entered at Stationers' Hall. "The Irish Washerwoman" appears to have developed from "The Country Courtship," which was extremely popular in the 19th century, as the tune under the "Washerwoman" title was to become a little later. The ending of the jig is the same as the endings of "In Bartholemew Fair" and "The Free Masons." Breathnach (1976) finds the second part identical to that of "Star at Liwis or The Scheme" printed by Walsh in Caledonian Country Dances (c. 1730, pg. 59).
The melody was found by the author of English Folk-Song and Dance (pg. 144) in the repertoire of fiddler William Tilbury (who lived at Pitch Place, midway between Churt and Thursley in Surrey), who used, in his younger days, to play at village dances. Tilbury learned his repertoire from an uncle, Fiddler Hammond, who died around 1870 and who was the village fiddler before him. The conclusion was that "Haste to the Wedding" and melodies of similar type survived in English tradition (at least in southwest Surrey) well into the second half of the 19th century.
***
A variant of the modern version of the tune appears as air 13 in Samuel Arnold's stage piece The Surrender of Calais, report Van Cleef and Keller (1980), which was first performed in London in 1791. It was sung by the character O'Carrol, and Irish soldier, and the song became known as "Corporal Casey:"
***
When I was at home I was merry and frisky
My Dad kept a pig and my mother sold whiskey.
My Uncle was rich but he would never be easy
'Til i was enlisted by Corporal Casey.
Oh, rub a dub, row de dow Corporal Casey,
My dear little Sheelah I thought would run crazy,
Oh when I trudged away with tough Corporal Casey.
***
As "Corporal Casey," the tune appears in Instructions for the Fife (London, 1795). The melody also found its way into various broadsides and similar 'low' publications, such as the latter 18th century "Irishman's Epistle to the Officer's and Troups at Boston" (sic). Later the song "Paddy McGinty's Goat" was set to the tune of "Irish Washerwoman." Shropshire musician John Moore penned a version in his notebook of c. 1837-1840 which has a third part in 3/8 time, breaking the pattern of the rhythm--perhaps, thinks editor Gordon Ashman, it was used in an introductory mode for "setting" or "step to your partner."
***
Fuld (1966) finds the earliest printings of the tune under the title "Irish Washerwoman" to be in Neil Gow's A Third Collection of Strathspey Reels &c for the Piano-forte, Violin and Violoncello (1792) and James Aird's A Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs (1794). Breathnach noted Dublin publication of "The Wash Woman" by Henry Mountian, c. 1785 and Ó Canainn (1978) finds it printed in Brysson's A Curious Selection of Favourite Tunes with Variations to which is appended "Fifty Favourite Irish Airs" (Edinburgh, 1790) under the title "Irish Waterman." Fuld also finds the melody under the title "The Melody of Cynwyd" in Edward Jones' Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards (London, 1794). Bruce Olson suggests that "The Wash Woman" was probably the original title, with 'Irish' being prefixed to the title outside of Ireland as an identifier--he thinks there were probably many tunes with 'Irish' in the title that identified place of origin and that were not part of the original title.
***
By the end of the 18th century the tune was identified with Ireland, and it is not surprising that that country also has laid claim to the tune. It has been reported that it was written by 19th century piper, fiddler and composer "Piper" Jackson, who was from either County Limerick or County Monaghan (according to the Boys of the Lough). Breathnach (1976) reports that Henry Mountain, No. 20 White Friar Street, Dublin, printed the melody in about the year 1785, calling it "The Wash Woman," a favourite New Country Dance. A few years later is appeared in Lee's New Collection of Irish Country Dances for the year 1788. The title appears in a list of tunes in his repertoire brought by Philip Goodman, the last professional and traditional piper in Farney, Louth, to the Feis Ceoil in Belfast in 1898 (Breathnach, 1997). In modern times in Ireland the tune is rarely played, remarks Caoimhin Mac Aoidh, as it is considered trite and hackneyed, though it does retain strong currency among County Donegal fiddlers who play several elaborate versions. Doolin, County Clare, whistle player Micho Russell called it "The Big Jig."
***
American versions with the "Washerwoman" title appear toward the end of the 18th century. It was contained in A Collection of Contra Dances (Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1792) under the title "Irish Wash Woman," and several American dance copybooks contain various dances to the melody, including Nancy Shepley's Manuscript (Pepperell, Massachusetts, c. 1795) and different figures in Asa Wilcox's MS (Hartford County, Conecticut, 1793). A third dance can be found in Gentleman and Lady's Companion (Norwich, Connecticut, 1798), while A Collection of Contra Dances (Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1792) gives a dance similar to that copied by Shepley. Van Cleef and Keller (1980) state the name changes from "Irish Wash Woman" to "Irish Washerwoman" around 1795. The tune retained its popularity, at least for contra dancing, and was cited as having commonly been played for Orange County, New York country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly), by 20th century Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner for dances in the Southwest, and by contemporary Buffalo Valley, Pa., dance fiddlers Ralph Sauers and Harry Daddario. Viola "Mom" Ruth, in her collection Pioneer Western Folk Tunes (1948) appends to the "Irish Washer Women" that it was what she played when she "Won the state's (Arizona) championship 1926." Other than for dancing, it was popular as a vehicle for "American stage Yankees," and according to Bronner (1987) it was included in the music to the "Federal Overture" (published by B. Carr in 1795) which played to theatres in Philadelphia and New York just prior to and at the beginning of the 1800's. Outside of the east coast Musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph recorded the tune for the Library of Congress from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's and it was recorded as having been predicted by a local southwest Alabama paper (the Clarke County Democrat) in May, 1929, that it would by played at an upcoming fiddlers' contest. It appears in the repertoire list of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the 1920's). Referred to by Bayard (1944) in his note for "The Snouts and Ears of America," and Breathnach (1976) regards it as a "stain on the honour of washer women" that the tune was used for that song and "Paddy McGinty's Goat" in the United States. Bayard reports that in Pennsylvania the following rhymes were collected with the tune:
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Jim Doodle, he dramp that his father was dead,
And his father he dramp that Jim Doodle was dead. (x2)
Chorus:
Jim Doodle, Jim Daddle, Jim Doodle, Jim Daddle,
Jim Doodle he gramp that his father was dead;
Jim Doodle he dramp that his father was dead,
And his father he dramp that Jim Doodle was dead.
or:
Jim Doodle didn't know that his father was dead,
And his father didn't know that Jim Doodle was dead,
And they both lay dead on the same damn' bed,
And neither one knew that the other was dead. (Bayard)
***
I have heard nearly the same rhyme with the name "McTavish" substituted for "Jim Doodle." Also from Pennsylvania:
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We've plenty of horses, the best to be got,
The ones that can canter, the ones that can trot-- (Bayard).
***
Introduced to the Shetland islands "by Scots girls (in the last decade of the 19th century) who came up in their hundreds during the herring season to live and work as gutters and packers at the numerous fishing stations which mushroomed each year around the Shetland shoreline" (Cooke, 1986).
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Perlman (1996) notes that, unlike Ireland, the tune is one of the most widely played by fiddlers on Prince Edward Island. At the beginning of the 20th century in Cape Breton a solo dance called The Irish Washerwoman was in the repertoire of Donald Beaton, an itinerant tailor and an influential dancer and fiddler in the region around Mabou. It originally consisted of 12 steps.
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Sources for notated versions: John Bennett (Cimarron County, Oklahoma) [Thede]: Edson Cole (Freedom, N.H.) [Linscott]; {1} Floyd Woodhull, 1976 and {2} Hornellsville Hillbillies, 1943 (New York State) [Bronner]; 13 southwestern Pa. fiddlers and fifers [Bayard]; fiddler Paddy Fahy, 1970 (Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, Ireland) [Breathnach]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; Attwood O'Connor (b. 1923, Milltown Cross, South Kings County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]. Adam, 1928; No. 3. Allan's Irish Fiddler, No. 14, pg. 4. American Veteran Fifer, 1902 & 1927; No. 11. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 1, pg. 1. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 446A-M, pgs. 415-419. Breathnach (CRE II), 1976; No. 19, pg. 12. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 140. Bronner (Old-Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 9, pg. 55 and No. 19, pg. 89. Carlin (The Gow Collection), 1986; No. 336. Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 12. Cazden, 1955; pg. 23. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 57. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 43. Harding's All-Round, 1905-1932; No. 201. Harding Collection (1915) and Harding's Original Collection, 1928; No. 187. Howe (Diamond School for the Violin), 1861; No. pgs. 44 & 62. Jarman, Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes; No. or pg. 8. Johnson, Vol. 8, 1988; pg. 5. Karpeles & Schofield (A Selection of 100 English Folk Dance Airs), 1951; pg. 10 (appears as "Circassian Cirle"). Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 94; pg. 46. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; No. 8, pg. 36. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 117. O'Malley, 1919; pg. 3. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 164, pg. 91 (appears as "The Irishwoman"). O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1986; No. 317, pg. 67. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 129. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 30. Raven (English Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 108. Reavy, 1979; No. 38. Reavy, No. 90, pg. 100 (an idiosyncratic version). Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 22, pg. 9. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; pg. 139. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 32. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 118-119. Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 46. White's Excelsior Collection, 1907; pg. 73. Flying Fish FF70610, Robin Huw Bowen - "Telyn Berseiniol fy Ngwlad/Welsh Music on the Welsh Triple Harp" (1996. Appears as "Yr Hen Olchyddes/The Washerwoman"). Folkways FA 2381, "The Hammered Dulcimer as played by Chet Parker (Michigan)" (1966). Fretless 122, Emile Boilard- "Old Time Fiddling 1976". North Star NS0038, "The Village Green: Dance Music of Old Sturbridge Village." RCA Victor LCP 1001, Ned Landry and His New Brunswick Lumberjacks - "Bowing the Strings with Ned Landry." Supertone 9169 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts (Ky.). Victor 20537 (78 RPM), Mellie Dunham, 1926. Pibroch MacKenzie - "The Mull Fiddler" (1969). Bob Smith's Ideal Band - "Better than an Orchestra" (1977).
T:Irish Washerwoman
L:1/8
M:6/8
R:Jig
B:The Athole Collection
K:G Major
d/c/|BGG DGG|BGB dcB|cAA EAA|cAc edc|BGG DGG|BGB dcB|cBc Adc|
BGG G2:|
|:d|gdg gdg|gdg bag|=fcf fcf|=fcf agf|egg dgg|cgg Bgg|cBc Adc|BGG G2:|
KENTUCKY WAGONER. AKA and see "Wagoner" and variations. The tune was mentioned under this title in a newspaper account at the time of the 1931 LaFollette, N.E. Tenn. fiddlers' contest. The name Kentucky is derived from the Iroquois phrase kenta ke, meaning 'grass land' (Matthews, 1972).
LEATHER BREECHES/BRITCHES. See "Lord MacDonald's Reel" which is thought to be the origin of the American version. AKA and see "Old Leather Britches," "Oh Those Britches Full of Stiches," "MacDonald's Reel," "McDonald's Reel," "Slanty Gart." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA, very widely known. G Major. Standard. AB (Bayard): AABB (Brody, Lowinger): ABCDD (Christeson): AABBCC (Shumway, Thede): AA'BB'CC' (Phillips): AABCCDDC' (Krassen). 'Leather Breeches' was a knickname in some parts of the south for green beans dried in the pod and later cooked, although any verses connected with the tune have referred to garments made out of leather.
***
Many sources note this tunes popularity in the United States: for example, Marion Thede said it was "among the most frequently heard fiddle tunes in the Southwest," while Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner stated it was "a great favorite in early Texas cattle country" (Shumway). It was in repertory of Alabama fiddler D. Dix Hollis (1861-1927) who considered it one of "the good old tunes of long ago" (as quoted in the Opelika Daily News of April 17th, 1926), and it was commonly played by Rock Ridge Alabama fiddlers around 1920 (Bailey). It was mentioned in the autobiography of fiddler Tom Freeman of Cullman County, Alabama, and was listed in the Tuscaloosa News of March 28th, 1971 as a specialty of "Monkey" Brown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who had a local reputation in the 20's and 30's (Cauthen, 1990). 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, and (by Herbert Halpert) from the playing of Mississippi fiddlers John Hatcher, Stephen B. Tucker, and Hardy Sharp in 1939. "Leather Breeches" was played in the non-standard key of 'D' Major by Surry County, North Carolina, fiddler Benton Flippen (b. 1920).
***
The melody was a standard at fiddlers' contests in many areas of the South and Mid-West. It was a 'category tune' for an 1899 fiddle contest in Gallatin, Tenn., in which each fiddler would play his version; the best rendition won a prize (C. Wolfe, The Devil's Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). It was predicted to "vie with the latest jazz nerve wreckers for first place" at a fiddlers' convention in Chilton County, Alabama, according to the Chilton County News of June 1, 1922 (Cauthen, 1990), and was also predicted by the Northwest Alabamian of August 29th, 1929, that it was likely to be played at an upcoming contest. A.B. Moore, in his 1934 History of Alabama, said it was one of the standard tunes in the square dance fiddler's repertoire, and it was listed as one of the definitive fiddle tunes for a contest in Jackson, Alabama, in the Clarke County Democrat of May 6, 1926 (Cauthen, 1990). "Leather Breeches" has retained popularity to this day as a contest tune. A story has been told of California old-time mandolin player Kenny Hall who played this tune in the 1970's at the 'national' contest at Weiser, Idaho, a hot-bed of Texas-style or 'contest' fiddling. Hall said he had learned the tune from an old Texas fiddler, and that his was what "real" Texas fiddling was all about, which did not endear him to many Texans that weekend. Compounding his faux pas, was that he referred the Texas version of the tune by the title "Perma Press." The Texans were not amused.
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Samuel Bayard suggests the rhyme sung to the melody by old-time musicians is borrowed from an Irish air (song) called "The Britches On." "This (Bayard's 1944 set) is the best set of 'Leather Breeches' yet to turn up in western Pennsylvania. The tune is often accompanied by a rhyme which in Greene County (Pa.) tradition runs:
***
Leather breeches full of stitches,
Old shoes and stockings on--
My wife she kicked me out of bed
Because I had my breeches on.
***
Mrs. Armstrong recalled only two lines:
***
Leather breeches, full of stitches,
Mammy sewed the buttons on.
***
Bayard notes the tune is descended from, or related to, an Irish air called "The Breeches On" or "The Irish Lad" and a widespread Scottish reel generally called "(Lord) McDonald's Reel." Ford (1940) prints these words:
***
Leather Breeches full of stitches,
Leather Breeches, Leather Breeches;
Mammy cut 'em out an'
M'daddy sewed an' sewed the stitches. (Ford)
***
Sources for notated versions: 'Uncle' Am Stuart (b. 1855. East Tennessee) [Krassen]; John White (Garfield County, Oklahoma) passed down from Uncle John MacDonald (Jack County, Texas) [Thede]; Stick Osborn (St. Joseph, Missouri) [Christeson]; Mrs. Sarah Armstrong, (near) Derry, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1943 [Bayard, 1944]; 15 southwestern Pa. fiddlers [Bayard, 1981]; Kenner C. Kartchner (Arizona) [Shumway]; Ralph Sauers (Dice, Pa.) [Guntharp]; Wil Gilmer with the Leake County Revellers and Howard Forrester [Phillips]. Adam, No. 33. Bayard (Hill Country Tunes), 1944; No. 16. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 328A-O, pgs. 293-298. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 166. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 88. Cole, pg. 22. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 48. Guntharp (Learning the Fiddler's Ways), 1980; pg. 72. Jarman, 1944; pg. 5. Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1983; pg. 15-16. Lowinger (Bluegrass Fiddle), 1974; pg. 19. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, Vol. 1), 1994; pg. 139. Robbins, No. 61. Shumway, 1990; pg. 268. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 53, pg. 19. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 115. Thomas (Devil's Ditties), pgs. 134 & 135. White's Excelsior Collection, pg. 27. Caney Mountain Records CEP 210 (extended play LP, privately issued), Lonnie Robertson (Mo.), c. 1965-66. Columbia 15149 (78 RPM), The Leake County Revelers (1927). Columbia 33397, Dave Bromberg - "Midnight on the Water" (1975). County 201, The Old Virginia Fiddlers- "Rare Recordings." County 506, The Skillet Lickers- "Old Time Tunes." County 532, "The Leake County Revelers: 1927-1930 Recordings" (1975). County 543, Earl Johnson and His Clodhoppers - "Red Hot Breakdown" (originally recorded in 1927). County 707, Lewis Franklin- "Texas Fiddle Favorites." County 714, Kenny Baker and Joe Greene- "High Country." County 733, Clark Kessinger- "The Legend of Clark Kessinger." Edison 51548 (78 RPM), 1923, John Baltzell (appears as last tune of "Drunken Sailor Medley"). Flying Cloud FC-023, Kirk Sutphin - "Fiddlin' Around." Flying Fish FF-336, Pete Sutherland - "Poor Man's Dream" (1984). Folkways FTS 31098, Ken Perlman - "Clawhammer Banjo and Fingerstyle Guitar Solos." Hilltop Records 6022, Uncle Jimmy Thompson. June Appal 024, Luke Smathers String Band- "Mountain Swing." June Appal 028, Wry Staw - "From Earth to Heaven" (1978. Learned from Virgil Cravens of Cedar Falls, N.C. "one of the last of the traditional southern hammer dulcimer players). Library of Congress AFS 4804-B-1, 1941, Osey and Ernest Helton (Western N.C.). Marimac AHS #3, Glen Smith - "Say Old Man" (1990. Learned from Bob Crawford). Marimac 9038, Dan Gellert & Brad Leftwich - "A Moment in Time." Marimac 9060, Jim Bowles - "Railroading Through the Rocky Mountians" (1992). Marimac 9111, Carter Brothers and Son - "Goin' Up Town: Old Time String Bands, Vol. 2" (orig. rec. 1928). Mississippi Department of Archives and History AH-002, John Hatcher - "Great Big Yam Potatoes: Anglo-American Fiddle Music from Mississippi" (1985). Philo 1051, Boys of the Lough (with mandolinist Kenny Hall) - "Good Friends, Good Music" (1977). Rounder 1027, Johnnie Lee Wills- "Tulsa Swing." Rounder 0024, "Hollow Rock String Band." Vocalation 5456 (78 RPM), Uncle J