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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 (Appalachin, W.Va.) via the Fuzzy Mountain String Band (N.C.) [Kuntz].
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: 1900’s.
OTHER NAMES: Henry Reed from Glen Lynn, Va. called the tune "Cabin Creek”. Josie Girl .
RECORDING INFO: Biograph 6007, Ebenezer- "Tell It to Me." Rounder Records 0035, The Fuzzy Mountain String Band- "Summer Oaks and Porch" (1973). 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 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: "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.
I been livin' here all my life,
All I got is a Barlow Knife;
Buck horn handle and a barlow blade,
Best dang knife that ever was made.
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