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Barlow Knife
Traditional Old-Time Breakdown and Song- Virginia, West Virginia.
ARTIST: Music from Henry Reed (Glen Lyn, Va., who called the tune "Cabin Creek" and words from Oscar Wright (Appalachia, W.Va.) via the Fuzzy Mountain String Band (N.C.) [Kuntz].
Listen: Henry Reed- Cabin Creek
Listen: John Salyer, Salyersville, Magoffin County, Kentucky, 1941 or 1942, discs 29A, 45B
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes;
DATE: 1900’s.
OTHER NAMES: Henry Reed from Glen Lynn, Va. called the tune "Cabin Creek”.
RECORDING INFO: Biograph 6007, Ebenezer- "Tell It to Me." Rounder Records 0035, The Fuzzy Mountain String Band- "Summer Oaks and Porch" (1973). Josie Girl . Bird, Elmer. Bumble Bee Waltz, Hurricane --, LP (1985), cut#B.05 (Cabin Creek). Carpenter, Ernie. Old-Time Fiddling of Braxton County, Augusta Heritage AHR 012, Cas (1992), cut#B.05 (Cabin Creek). Ebenezer. Tell It To Me, Biograph RC-6007, LP (1975), cut# 1. Edmonds, Norman. Train on the Island, Davis Unlimited DU 33002, LP (197?), cut# 3. Fuzzy Mountain String Band. Summer Oaks and Porch, Rounder 0035, LP (197?), cut# 17. George, Franklin/Frank. Reflections of the Past, Roane RR 104, Cas (1995), cut#2.01. Hollow Rock String Band. Traditional Dance Tunes, Kanawha 311, LP (197?), cut# 10 (Cabin Creek). Juggernaut String Band. Greasy Coat, Wildbeest WB004, LP (198?), cut# 13 . Nagler, Eric. Fiddle Up a Tune, Elephant LFN 8206, LP (1982), cut#A.07 . Rutherford, Ernest; and the Gold Hill Band. Old Cap'n Rabbit, Heritage (Galax) 080, Cas (1989), cut# 14. Schnaufer, David. Delcimore, Collecting Dust CD 0699001, CD (1999), cut# 8b
SOURCES: Appalachian Fiddle, Oak, sof (1973), p26; Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc; Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 35. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 25-26. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 297-298. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 19. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 30.
NOTES: The tune is usually played as an instrumental and is know alternately as Barlow Knife or Cabin Creek. I've included the two best known recordings by Henry Reed and John Salyer (1941-1942).
There are sometimes three strains (Reed) and the lyrics scan to the first two strains.
Kuntz: "G Major (also played in the key of D). Standard. AABB: AABBCC (Phillips). A barlow knife is a type of folding pocket knife that features double or single blades that open at one end only. This pocket knife was manufactured in Sheffield England specifically for export to the States from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century and is known as a "Barlow" after one of the earliest and most famous makers." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
The knife was made by Luke Furnace of Stannington, which in the eighteenth century was a small village on the outskirts of Sheffield. Luke Furnace's name occurs in the Sheffield directories from 1774 and 1787, but not in the 1797 directory, so he was presumably dead by then. He probably adopted the mark "1760" because that was the year he obtained the freedom of the Cutler's Company. The original Barlow, after whom the knives are named, was working in Sheffield at the same time as Luke Furnace.
240 I'VE BEEN A MINER "The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore; the folklore of North Carolina, collected by Dr. Frank C. Brown during the years 1912 to 1943, in collaboration with the North Carolina Folklore Society."
From Miss Jewell Robbins, Peckin, Montgomery county (later Mrs C. P. Perdue), with phonograph recording; ; c. 1921-24; described as a "Negro ballad." Cf. "John Henry.' A'ol. II. No. 270.
1 I been a miner all n' my life.
Never lost nothin' but a barlow knife
2 Big John Henry, big John Henry.
Big John Henry, poor boy blind.
"Barlow knife" — a cheap pocket knife, of a sort once common in the South.
Standard Lyics are:
I've been workin' 'bout all my life
And all I've got is a Barlow knife.
Barlow handle and a Barlow blade.
Best durn knife that ever was made.
I worked in the cotton mill all my life
Nothin' to show but a barlow knife.
Barlow handle and a Barlow blade.
Best durn knife that ever was made.
The lyrics occasionally show up in other songs like "Cotton Mill Girls":
Worked in the cotton mill all my life
Ain't got nothing but a barlow knife
Hard times, cotton mill girls
Hard times, everywhere. (Georgia Mill Song)
Hedy West recorded a version of this traditional song tune. "Barlow Knife," (Also known as "Cabin Creek") was in repertoire of John Salyer, Salyersville, Magoffin County, Kentucky, 1941 or 1942, discs 29A, 45B Listen: John Salyer. Home recording by Grover Salyer. Tune was also called "I've Got A Grandpa" and sometime named "Boatin' Up Sandy," a floating title.
Notes on Henry Reed's version Cabin Creek, recorded August 27, 1966 at the Reed family home, Glen Lyn, Virginia (Giles County):
Cabin Creek, from which this three-part tune takes its name, is a creek that flows into the Kanawha River above Charleston, West Virginia. It was the site of a famous strike in the annals of West Virginia coal, but this tune may evoke the creek generally rather than the battles fought there. It is of that variety of tune, popular in West Virginia, which begins at the top of the tune's compass and cascades downward by degrees--like a creek, one might think. Another name for this tune is "Barlow Knife," and it is often played under that title as a banjo piece with some associated lyrics. Henry Reed said he learned this tune from Mr. Underwood, who had moved from Franklin County to Monroe County, and described it as an old Franklin County piece.
Key: G; Meter: 4/4
Strains: 3 (high-middle-low, 2-2-2)
Rendition: 1r-2r-3r-1r-2r-3r-1r-2r-3r-1r-2r-3r-tag
Phrase Structure: AB QR UV (abcd qrq's uvus)
Compass: 9
Spoken: ALAN JABBOUR: There, you got it now.
Recording chronology: 055
Duration: 1 minute, 39 seconds
BARLOW KNIFE: Lyrics from Oscar Wright
I've been a fisherman all my life
and all I've got is a Barlow knife.
Barlow handle and a Barlow blade.
Best durn knife that ever was made.
Barlow handle and a Barlow blade.
Best durn knife that ever was made.
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