Buck Creek Gal- Version 3
New Lost City Ramblers 

Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Virginia, Southeast

ARTIST: New Lost City Ramblers (see also Version 1)

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkK9dJqoa9o

MP3: Listen to Doc Roberts 1927; Recording lists "Fiddlin' Frank Nelson" playing "Buck Creek Gal" dating from September of 1927. Fiddlin' Frank Nelson is really the great Kentucky fiddler Doc Roberts. The guitar accompaniment is by Joe Booker

CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: Early 1900s (probably mid-1800s). Collected in 1917. Was heard in late 1800s by Bill Banjer Cornet of Knott County, KY at square dances. (Listen) Solo Banjo

Recording info on Buck Creek Gals: Abner, Lizzie. Eighty English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, MIT Press, Sof (1968), p 85 (Cripple Creek); Cornett, Bill (Banjo Bill). Mountain Music of Kentucky, Folkways FA 2317, LP (1960), cut# 26; Cornett, Bill (Banjo Bill). Mountain Music of Kentucky, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40077, CD (1996), cut#1.26; New Lost City Ramblers. There Ain't No Way Out, Smithsonian/Folkways 40098, CD (1997), cut# 1; Haymore, Harold "Red". Union Grove, The Hub of the Universe, Union Grove SS-4, LP (1970), cut# 9 (Buck Creek Gals) Rosenbaum, Art (Arthur). Art of the Mountain Banjo, Kicking Mule KM 203, LP (1975), cut#2.08b (Buck Creek Gals); Sexton, Lee "Boy". Whoa Mule, June Appal JA 0051, LP (1987), cut# 15 (Buck Creek); Wine, Melvin. Vintage Wine, Marimac AHS 6, Cas (1993), cut#A.12 (Buck Creek Gals)

WILD HORSE/HORSES: "Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; N.C., Ky., Central West Virginia, southwestern Pa. G Major (Krassen, Phillips): F Major (Ford). Standard. AB: AAAB (Phillips/1989): AA'B (Phillips/1994)." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

"In the repertoire of Hiram Stampler, Key of G, fiddler tuned gdae. Recorded 1980. A common tune throughout the South. In eastern Kentucky it has also been played as Buck Creek Girls. Wild Horse was one of the NC, Va, names to the tune. Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers recorded “Wild Horse” on Columbia 15279-D in1926, released later on County 509, "Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, Vol. 2." Augusta Heritage Records 003, Ernie Carpenter (W.Va.) - "Elk River Blues: Traditional Tunes From Braxton County, W.Va." {Carpenter learned the tune from Wallace Pritchard}. (Posey Rorer, fiddler)."(Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

"Sometimes a third part is added (see Phillips' {1994}) to the first two. See also the related tunes "Rich Mountain" and "Rock Jenny Rock." Though an unusual key for the tune, Kentucky fiddler Clyde Davenport played the tune in F Major. "Wild Horse's" pedigree, at least locally, was remembered by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time guitar and banjo player Brooks Hardway, who attributed it to a fiddler named John McCune whose hey-day was in the early 20th century. Hardway maintained Old Noah Cotrell had it from McCune and Ward Jarvis learned it in turn from Cotrell (Milnes, 1999, pgs. 11-12).

Sources for Wild Horse: French Carpenter (Clay County, West Virginia) [Krassen]; Levi Hall (Fayette County, Pa., 1944) [Bayard]; John Rector [Phillips/1994]; Leland Hall [Phillips/1994]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 166E, pgs. 112-113. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 35. Krassen, 1983; pg. 60-61. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1986; pg. 46. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pgs. 257-258." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

Recording info Wild Horse: Mainer's Mountaineers (J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers). J. E. Mainer & the Mountaineers. Vol 20. 20 Old-Time Favorites, Rural Rhythm RC-250, Cas (1988), cut#B.05; Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p 35b; Baxter, L. P.; & Henry Ford's Old Fashioned Dance.... Folk Music in America, Vol. 4, Dance Music, Reels, Polkas, ..., Library of Congress LBC-04, LP (1976), cut#B.08b (Medley); Bursen, Howard (Howie). Cider in the Kitchen, Folk Legacy FSI-074, LP (1980), cut# 11; Carpenter, Ernie. Elk River Blues, Augusta Heritage AHR 003, LP (1986), cut# 6; Carpenter, French. Elzics Farewell, Kanawha 301, LP (1978), cut# 4; Dalton, Frank. Old Originals, Vol. 1, Rounder 0057, LP (1978), cut# 18 (Rich Mountain); Ford, Henry;'s Old Fashioned Dance Orchestra. Early Rural String Bands, RCA (Victor) LPV-552, LP (1968), cut# 10b; Fraley, J. P. and Annadeene. Maysville. Old Time Fiddle Tunes, Rounder 0351, Cas (1995), cut#A.04; Hall, Leland. Old-Time Fiddling of Braxton County, Augusta Heritage AHR 012, Cas (1992), cut#B.12; Hammons, Edden. Edden Hammons Collection. Vol Two, West Virginia Univ SA-2, CD (2000), cut#1.02; Hunt, Prince Albert. Yearlings in the Canebrake, Musical Traditions MTC 103, Cas (1994), A.09 (Wake Up Jacob); Hunt, Prince Albert; 's Texas Ramblers. Anthology of American Folk Music, Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 40090, CD( (1997), cut# 30 (Wake Up Jacob); Kessinger, Clark. Old Time Music With Fiddle and Guitar, Rounder 0004, LP (1972), cut# 8; Mansfield, Bill; and the Carolina Mockingbirds. Root Hog or Die, Flying Cloud FC 005, LP (198?), cut#A.06; McLain Family Band. Country Dance Album, Country Life CLR-16, LP (1986), cut#B.04b (Pig Town Fling); Monday, Isham. I Kind of Believe It's A Gift, Meriweather Meri 1001-2, LP (198?), cut# 20 (Rock Creek); Parker, Chet. Hammered Dulcimer, Folkways FA 2381, LP (1966), cut# 3d (Buffalo Breakdown); Poole, Charlie; and the North Carolina Ramblers. Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers. Vol Two, County 509, LP (196?), cut# 3; Setters, Jilson. Kentucky Country; Old Time Music From Kentucky, Rounder 1037, LP (1983), cut# 6; Shantalla. Shantalla, Wild Boar Music WBM 21004, CD (1998), cut#12e (Pigtown Fling); Shelor Family. Eight Miles Apart, Heritage (Galax) 022, LP (1979), cut# 11 (Rich Mountain); Skillet Lickers. Skillet Lickers, Vol. 1, County 506, LP (196?), cut# 10 (In the Woodpile); Stanley Brothers. Starday Sessions, County CCS 106/7, LP (1984), cut# 1 (Holiday Pickin'); Sutphin, Kirk. Fiddlin' Around, Flying Cloud FC-023, Cas (1993), cut# 8; Thomas, Tony. Old Style Texas and Oklahoma Fiddling, Takoma A-1013, LP (195?), cut# 2 (Nigger in the Woodpile); Wear, DeWayne; and the Great Wear Family. Hoe Down! Vol. 4, Rural Rhythm RR 121, LP (197?), cut# 25 (Walk Along John); Welling, William B. (Will). Welling's Hartford Tunebook, Welling, Fol (1974), p 3b (Pigtown Fling); Flying Cloud FC-023, Kirk Sutphin - "Fiddlin' Around." Folk Legacy FSI-74, Howard Bursen - "Cider in the Kitchen" (1980. Learned from the banjo frailing of Walt Koken). Gennett 5613 (78 RPM), The Tweedy Brothers (1924. West Virginia string band). Rounder 1033, Jilson Setters (under the pseudonym Blind Bill Day; b. 1860, Rowan County, Ky.) {reissue of his 1928 Victor side} Victor;

STONY/STONEY POINT: American and British Isles; Breakdown and Reel. USA, very widely known. G Major ('A' and 'C' parts), E Aeolian ('B' part). Standard. AABBCC (Brody): AABBCCDD (Christeson): AA'BC (Bayard).

Stony Point may refer to a battle of the same name fought during the American Revolution on July 15, 1779. The earliest link of that title with this particular tune is a Civil War era publication called Winner's Music of the Dance (1866), where the tune is called Stony Point Reel. Given the connection with Dan Emmett and the minstrel stage, Stony Point (or, Old Dad) must have been quite popular with Civil War fiddlers. (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

Christeson (1973) says it was descended from "Kelton's Reel", published in Ryan's Jigs and Reels. It may take the name Stony Point from the Revolutionary War battle in which Mad Anthony Wayne successfully assaulted a fortified position on the lower Hudson River. The tune is known locally as "Hop Squirrel" in the Franklin/Floyd County area of Virginia. (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

Peter Mattair, Executive Director of The Fund for Folk Culture, Sante Fe, New Mexico: “In the concerts that Alan Jabbour and I have played together over the years, we always seem to open with a fiddle tune called "Stoney Point." With its surging drive and angular rhythm, the tune incorporates three distinct sections. Then, at a point about two-thirds of the way through, Alan nods or maybe smiles, and we launch into a fourth part. I run up the neck of the banjo, and he hits the bow against the strings with rasping force. The tune crests and falls like a fanfare of horns. "Stoney Point" succeeds as an introductory piece, I suppose, by its combination of speed, dynamics, and this added element of melodic surprise. Afterwards, Alan tells listeners about the tune. It goes by a wonderful variety of names: "Wild Horse," "Pigtown Fling," "Old Dad," "Buck Creek Girl." And, as Alan notes, there's always some accommodating soul who calls it "the Wild Horse at Stoney Point."

Sources of Stoney Point: James Marr (Missouri, 1949) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; Appendix No. 19, pg. 580. Brody (Fiddlers Fakebook), 1983; pg. 267. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; pg. 99. Can be found in Ryan's Jigs and Reels under the title "Kelton's Reel" and in White's Unique Collection of Jigs and Reels (Boston, 1896) under "Pig-Town Fling."

Recording info on Stoney Point: Baron, Carl. Old Time Herald, Old Time Herald OTH, Ser (1987-), 6/3, p38; Bowers, Bryan. By Heart, Flying Fish FF 313, LP (1984), cut#A.02; Brother Oswald and Charlie Collins. Oz and Charlie, Rounder 0060, LP (1976), cut# 6; Denes, Andy. 15th Annual Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest, Black Mountain Mi 7775, LP (197?), cut# 13b; Enloe, Lyman. Fiddle Tunes I Recall, County 762, LP, cut# 18; Hall, Kenny; and the Sweets Mill String Band. Kenny Hall and the Sweets Mill String Band, Bay TPH-727, LP (1973), cut#A.02; Hickory Wind. At the Wednesday Night Waltz, Adelphi AD 2002, LP (1974), cut# 5b; Jones, Kelly. Authentic Old Time Fiddle Tunes, MSOTFA 005, Cas (1990), cut# 9 (Stoney Point); Krassen, Miles. Appalachian Fiddle, Oak, sof (1973), p61; Mabus, Joel. Clawhammer, Fossil, Cas (198?), cut# 3; Reed, Frank; and Hendren, Alva Lee. I'm Old But I'm Awfully Tough, MFFA 1001, LP (1977?), cut# 30; Rosenbaum, Art (Arthur). Art of the Mountain Banjo, Kicking Mule KM 203, LP (1975), cut#2.08a; Siegel, Grisman, Rose, Lowinger. String Band Project, Elektra EKS 7292, LP, cut#B.10; Walters, Bob. Old Time Fiddler's Repertory, University of Missouri --, LP (1973), cut# 24; Williams, Walter; and W. M. Stepp. Library of Congress Banjo Collection, Rounder 0237, LP (1988), cut# 1; Wilson, Nile. Tie Hacker Hoe-down, MSOTFA 202-CS, Cas (1995), cut#1.11; Wright, Oscar And Eugene. Oscar & Eugene Wright, Rounder 0089, LP (1978), cut# 1; County 762, Lyman Enloe- "Fiddle Tunes I Recall." Dorian Discovery DIS-80103, Helicon - "Horizons" (1992). Kicking Mule KM-327, "Scartaglen" (1984). Library of Congress, 1939, W.A. Bledsoe (Meridian, Miss.). Rounder 0004, Clark Kessinger- "Old-Time Music" (appears as "Wild Horses"). Rounder 0060, Brother Oswald and Charlie Collins- "Oz and Charlie." Rounder 0092, Tony Rice- "Manzanita." Rounder 0089, Oscar and Eugene Wright- "Old Time Fiddle and Guitar Music from West Virginia;” Bay 727, "Kenny Hall and the Sweet Mill String Band."

PIGTOWN FLING: American, Scottish, Irish; Reel. USA, widely known under a variety of titles. G Major ('A' part) & E Minor ('B' part). Standard. AA'B (Kerr): AABB. (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

Pigtown Fling is the common New England title for this widely known tune, although it was collected by Shaw in Colorado as "Pigtown Hoe Down." It is called "Pigtown" in County Donegal, Ireland, where it is played as a highland, although Perlman (1979) says it was originally a Co. Kerry polka, also called "Pigtown." Linscott (1939) identifies this tune as "an Irish reel sometimes known as 'Keltons.'" Chet Parker, a hammered dulcimer player from western New York, called it "Buffalo Breakdown." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

Sources for Pigtown Fling: Edson Cole (Freedom, N.H.) [Linscott], seven southwestern Pa. fiddlers [Bayard]. Adam, 1928; No. 27. American Veteran Fifer, 1927; No. 19. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 166A-G, pgs. 111-113. Bulmer & Sharpley (Music from Ireland), 1974, Vol. 2, No. 7. Cazden, 1955; pg. 28. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, Vol. 1), 1973; No. 139 (four parts). DeVille, 1905; No. 65. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pgs. 35 and 64. Harding's Original Collection, 1928; No. 121. Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 2; No. 269, pg. 29. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 61 (three parts). Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 71. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddlers Repertoire), 1983; No. 126. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 2, pg. 3. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; pg. 388 (appears as "Pigtown Hoe Down"). Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 47. Tolman (Nelson Music Collection), 1969; pg. 11. Welling (Welling's Hartford Tunebook), 1976; pg. 3. White's Excelsior Collection, pg. 23. White's Unique Collection, No. 70.

Recording info for Pigtown Fling: Carawan, Guy. Green Rocky Road, June Appal JA 0021, LP, cut# 6; Grossman, Stefan. Yazoo Basin Boogie, Transatlantic TRA 217, LP (1970), cut#A.07; Grossman, Stefan. Book of Guitar Tunings, Amsco, Sof (1972), p70; Grossman, Stefan. Contemporary Ragtime Guitar, Oak, Sof (1972), p36; Haley, Ed. Grey Eagle (Vol. 2), Rounder 1133/1134, CD (1997), 1.06 (Wild Horse/Horses); Herald, Jim. American Hammered Dulcimer, Vol. 2. 25 Years with the O.D.P.C., L-Three 8x510, LP (1988), cut# 7; Kretzner, Leo. Pigtown Fling, Green Linnet SIF 1019, LP (1979), cut#A.08; MacArthur, Margaret. Old Songs, Philo 1001, LP (1975), cut# 6; Seeger, Pete. Banks of Marble, Folkways FTS 31040, LP (1974), cut#B.06; Shippee, Uncle Joe. New England Traditional Fiddling, JEMF 105, LP (1978), cut# 3b; Gennett 6088 (78 RPM), Uncle Steve Hubbard and His Boys, c. 1928 (recorded under the title "Big-Town Fling"). John Edwards Memorial Foundation JEMF-105, Uncle Joe Shippee - "New England Traditional Fiddling" (1978). Shanachie 79022, "The Chieftains #2." "Music at Matt Molloy's." Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40126, Bob McQuillen & Old New England - "Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire" (1999).

OTHER NAMES: Buck Creek Girls/Gals; Rock Creek Girls (fiddler Isham Monday); Cripple Creek (titled by Sharp-not well-known song)

BUCK CREEK GALS (from Andrew Kuntz)- "Old-Time. USA; southwest Virginia, eastern Kentucky, Arkansas. The title has also been used for “Cripple Creek” and some versions have dance calls or short verse interjected over the driving banjo part." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

Buck Creek Gals is a southwest Virginia, eastern Kentucky, Arkansas tune in the repertoire of Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877-1952? (Russell County, southwestern Va.) and recorded by him in 1924 for Victor, though not issued. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. To Randolph, who says Ozark fiddlers consider the tune "ancient and difficult to play," the tune "sounds like common old 'Stoney Point.'" Wolfe (1982) identifies a tune by this title as a driving banjo tune recorded in the 1920's by eastern Kentucky musicians. There are two versions collected by Sharp in EFSSA entitled Cripple Creek because the lyrics mention “Cripple Creek.” (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc). New City Lost Ramblers version is basically a banjo solo with Sharp’s lyric added on. Sometimes square dance calls are also added and these lyrics:

Buck Creek Girls 

Buck Creek Girls want to go to Cripple Creek,
Cripple Creek girls want to go to town.

WILD HORSE FAMILY OF FIDDLE TUNES: This large family of fiddle tunes includes "Old Dad," "Old Mother Goodwin" (Pa.), "Stoney Point," "Hop Squirrel," "Stony Point Reel" (Pa. title, 1866), "Warm Stuff," "Wild Horse," "Wild Horses at Stony Point," "Buffalo Breakdown," "Hop Along Sally," "Kelton's Reel," “Wild Horses at Stony Point,” “Buck Creek Girls,” “Booker's Bluff.” The most common title among northern fiddlers: “The Pigtown Fling,” while among the mid-west fiddlers the tune is known as “Walk Along John.” (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).

OTHER NAMES FOR FIDDLE TUNE: "Stoney Point," "Hop Squirrel," "Stony Point Reel" (Pa. title, 1866), "Warm Stuff," "Wild Horse," "Wild Horses at Stony Point," "Buffalo Breakdown," "Hop Along Sally," "Kelton's Reel," “Wild Horses at Stony Point,” “Buck Creek Girls,” “Booker's Bluff,” and the most common title among northern fiddlers: “The Pigtown Fling,” among the mid-west fiddlers known as “Walk Along John.”

NOTES: The song appears to be named after a few scant sets of lyrics set to the  tune called “Kelton's Reel," in Ireland. In turn, this tune has spawned a variety of instrumental fiddle tunes in the US including “Wild Horse,” “Stony Point,” “Buck Creek Girls,” and the most common title among northern fiddlers, “The Pigtown Fling.”

The tune in ABA form with lyrics titled "Cripple Creek or Buck Creek Girls" was collected twice by Sharp in 1917 and appears in Cecil Sharp's EFSSA. One set of lyrics is the same as the New Lost City Ramblers lyrics.

 According to banjoist Bill "Banjer" Cornet (listen) who was recorded playing the tune in  Knott County, Kentucky in the summer of 1961,  "it was an old breakdown music, played as an old square dance song. I used to go to square dances in the 1880s to 1898. This is the way square dances played music at that time."  Cornet includes a few calls and these lyrics:

Buck Creek Girl (Knott County, Kentucky) Bill Cornett

Buck Creek Girl want to go to Cripple Creek,
Cripple Creek girl want to go to town.

It's possible that the New Lost City Ramblers version is a cover of Cornet's version.

Here are the lyrics to “Buck Creek Gal” from New Lost City Ramblers: