1918 References to Fiddle Tunes in Kentucky
Joel
such:
from "The way out: a story of the Cumberlands today", By Emerson
Hough, 1918
Didn't ' ye nuvver hear ary one of our old fiddle tunes?"
Marcia shook her head. "I'm afraid not," she said.
"No? Why, Davy useter be a powerful fiddle in his time, afore he got
religion so hard. I reckon he could' play most all the Old-time tunes.
Didn't ye nuvver hear 'Barbara Allen,' or 'Lord Lovell,' Ma'am ? I've
seen men set an' cry over 'Lord Lovell.' Then thar was Tolly Allen,'
another ballet. Thar was some folks always that could make words fer
ballets, an' they'd sort of sing 'em.
"As fer fiddlin' tunes, thar's so many I kain't hardly recollect. Thar
was 'The Flowers of Edingburg'—I don't know whar that come from, but
they says it's old, an' like enough come over the mountings. An' thar
was 'The Deer Walk'—I don't know whar that come from neither. Then
thar was 'The Hog-Eyed Man,' an' 'Jawbone,' an' 'The Puncheon Floor,'
an' 'Jones's Still House,' an' 'Sugar in the Bowl,' an' 'Suds Over the
Fence,' an' 'Turkey in the Straw'—didn't ye never hear none of them
tunes, Ma'am?"
"I'm not sure, Granny," rejoined Marcia Haddon. "As you say, I'm
powerful ignorant, and I'm afraid
my education isn't very wide in these matters. Go on and tell me some
more."
"Well, thar was 'Round the Sugar Tree'—that's another tune the boys
played at dancin's—and 'Notchy on the Hill.' That tune come from the
raftsmen. They tolt us thar was a river called the Mississip'
somewhars, an' a good many tunes come up from down the Mississip'.
"Then thar was 'Sally Ann,' an' 'Ida Red,' an' 'Shreveport'—like
enough 'Shreveport' come from the raftin' times, too. Then thar was
'Dan Hogan's,' an' 'Old Ned,' an' 'Gall of the Yare' (Guadalquivir?).
'Polk an' Dallas' was a 'lection tune. Then thar's The Campbells Air
Comin','—why, law! Ma'am, I could go on a-tellin' names of fiddlin'
tunes fer a hour yit."
Joel