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Grandma Blair
Traditional Old-Time, Breakdown- USA; Widely known.
ARTIST: Henry Lovell (Pushmataha County, Oklahoma) from Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 84.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: Ca. 1809 "Fairy Dance;" Lyrics from 1881 as "Old Molly Hare"(Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings)
OTHER NAMES: "Fisher Laddie," "Old Molly Hare," "Molly Hare," "(Largo's) Fairy Dance," "Rustic Dance," "Fairy Reel" (Ire.) “Knit Stockings;” “Old Sow;” “Grandma Blare/Blair;” Old Granny Blair”
RELATED TO- ORIGINATED FROM: "Largo's Fairy Dance," Fairy (Fairies') Reel
RECORDING INFO: Brunswick 291 (78 RPM), The Crockett Family (1928. A Kentucky group). Columbia 15295 (78 RPM), Riley Puckett & Clayton McMichen (1927). County 507, Clayton McMichen. County 527, Clayton McMichen- "Old Time Fiddle Classics, Vol. II." Folkways FA 2395, New Lost City Ramblers- "Vol. 5." Okeh 45268 (78 RPM), Fiddlin' Cowan Powers (1928. Powers, 1877-1952? was from Russell County, Va., and learned the tune from family tradition). Rounder 0058, Haywood Blevins- "Old Originals, Vol. II." Recorded for the Library of Congress, 1939, by W.A. Bledsoe (Meridian, Mississippi). Also in repertoire of the Kimble Family from Patrick County, S.W. Va. Fiddlin' Powers & Family, "Old Molly Hare" (Okeh 45268, 1928; on Cornshuckers2); Riley Puckett, "Old Molly Hair" (Columbia 15295-D, 1928); Clayton McMichen & Riley Puckett, "Old Molly Hare" (c. 1930; on CrowTold01); New Lost City Ramblers, "Old Molly Hair" (on NLCR05); Bird, W. E.. Folk Songs of America. The Robert Winslow Gordon Collection...., Library of Congress AFS L68, LP (1978), cut# 6 (Old Granny Hare); Blevins, Haywood. Old Originals, Vol. 2, Rounder 0058, LP (1978), cut# 12; Block, Allan; and Bill Vanaver. Old-Time Banjo Project, Elektra EKL-7276, LP, cut# 1; Carawan, Guy. Green Rocky Road, June Appal JA 0021, LP, cut# 11; Cooney, Michael. Songs & Sounds of the Sea, National Geographic Soc. 705, LP (1973), cut# 16; Cormier, Joseph. Joseph Cormier and Friends. Old Time Wedding Reels and Other..., Rounder 7013, Cas (1992), cut#B.01c (Largo's Fairy Dance); Delaney, Tommy; and May Keogh. Rince - An Dara Ceim, Gael-Linn CEF020, LP (196?), cut#A.01a (Fairy (Fairies') Reel); Dykes, Carrie. Sweet Bunch of Daisies, Colonial Press, Bk (1991), p215 (Mollie Hare); George, Franklin/Frank. Traditional Music for Banjo, Fiddle & Bagpipes, County C-2703, Cas (1992), cut#A.01; George, Franklin/Frank. Traditional Music for Banjo, Fiddle and Bagpipes, Kanawha 307, LP (1967), cut#B.01; Hamilton, Mark. Songs and Tunes from Wolf Run, Sampler 9223, Cas (1992), cut# 17 (Fairies'/Fairy Dance); Hickory Wind. At the Wednesday Night Waltz, Adelphi AD 2002, LP (1974), cut# 5a; Jarrell, Tommy. Rainbow Sign, County 791, LP (198?), cut# 2; Levy, Bertram; and Peter Ostroushko. First Generation, Flying Fish FF-392, LP (1987), cut# 10a; Lovell, Henry. Fiddle Book, Oak, Bk (1967), p 84 (Grandma Blare/Blair); McMichen, Clayton; and Riley Pucket. Old Time Fiddle Classics, Vol. 2, County 527, LP (1973), cut# 4; New Lost City Ramblers. New Lost City Ramblers, Vol. 5, Folkways FA 2395, LP (1963), cut# 2; Noonan, Paddy; Band. Scottish Party, Tifton TS 82, LP (197?), cut#A.01c; Ransom, Stan. My Long Island Home, Connecticut Peddler, CD (1997), cut#15b; Rosenbaum, Art (Arthur). Art of the Mountain Banjo, Kicking Mule KM 203, LP (1975), cut#2.03b; Rutherford, Ernest; and the Gold Hill Band. Old Cap'n Rabbit, Heritage (Galax) 080, Cas (1989), cut# 24; Seeger, Peggy And Mike. American Folk Songs for Children, Rounder 8001/8002/8003, LP (1977), cut# 35; Smith, Paul. Devil Eat the Groundhog, Rounder 0409, CD (1999), cut#16; Southern Michigan String Band. Transplanted Old Timy Music, Pine Tree PTSLP 509, LP (197?), cut# 10
SOURCES: New Lost City Ramblers [Brody]: Clayton McMichen (Atlanta, Ga) [Phillips]. Also in the repertoire of Uncle Eck Dunford (Galax, Va.) {See Library of Congress recording}. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 207. Kaufman (Beginning Old Time Fiddle), 1977; pg. 47. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; pg. 31. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 31. Reiner & Anick (Old Time Fiddling Across America), 1989; pgs. 110-111. Randolph 277, "Old Molly Hare;" Lomax-ABFS, pp. 283-284, "Old Mother Hare;" Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 108-109, "Old Molly Hair;" American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.282 (Old Mother Hare); American Folk Songs for Children, Doubleday/Zephyr Books, Bk (1948), p. 99; Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p 30b; Appalachian Fiddle, Oak, sof (1973), p31; Hellman, Neal. Life Is Like a Mountain Dulcimer, TRO, sof (1974), p 1; Kaufman, Alan. Beginning Old-time Fiddle, Oak, sof (1977), p47; Mellin, Norman. Devil's Box, Devil's Box DB, Ser (196?), 24/4, p45; New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p108;
NOTES: "G Major (Brody): D Major (Ford, Krassen, Phillips, Reiner & Anick). ADAE (Clayton McMichen) or Standard. AABB (Brody, Ford, Krassen, Phillips): ABBA'BCA''B' (Reiner & Anick). "Old Molly Hare" is directly evolved from the Scottish melody "Largo's Fairy Dance," claimed by Nathaniel Gow (1763-1831). It is known as "The Fisher Laddie" in northern England (where it appears in a collection of Northern English sword dance tunes by Cecil Sharp). The "Old Molly Hare" song and title appears to be strictly American in origin-Charles Wolfe (1991) thinks it a minstrel piece that went into oral tradition among both blacks and whites-and various ditties or rhymes have been sung to it." (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
Joel Chandler Harris quoted the first stanza of this song in "Mr. Rabbit Gorssly Decieves Mr. Fox," published in 1881 in Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings:
Ole Molly Har'.
W'at you doin' dar,
Settin' in de cornder
Smokin' yo seegyar?
Ford (1940) relates an improbable story he had from a man who had been a noted caller of old-time dances when he was younger, around the 1870's or 1880's. According to him the settlers of the Missouri/Kansas prarie region plagued by rodent holes, especillay rabbits, which were a hazard to cattle or horses. There was a boon to the burrows, however, as they could by used for fence posts, saving the homesteader the arduous labor of digging another hole to set his post. Usually, says Ford, the settlers as a matter of pride took great pains to set their posts in a straight line. There was however, one character in the community, "whose ingenious efforts to avoid over-exertion were a constant source of amusement to his friends and neighbors."
When he built his fence he was not particular about a straight line.
He selected rows of rabbit holes, set his posts, strung the wire and
had his fencing done in no time at all. But the result was even more
erratic than he had anticipated. He was surveying the completed work
one day when several neighbors, coming in from the range, rode up.
They took one look at the fence and then had their usual laugh, to
poor old John's embarrassment. 'John', said one, in a voice of
suppressed amusement, 'how much liquor does it take to the mile,
to build a fence like that?' 'Well,' said John, scratching his head,
'I hadn't calculated fer it to be a worm fence. Reckon though, if I
had a still hitched to it and the neighbors pourin' cold water along,
like they do on all my honest endeavors, you fellers 'ud be down at
t'other end of the fence holdin' yer cups to ketch the whiskey!' As
soon as the laughter had subsided over John's turning the tables, the
neighbor added: 'Anyhow, you certainly did get your fencing done
in a hurry, John. Did you have any help?' 'Yes and no,' was the reply.
'I sort of took advantage of Mother Nature on part of the work. Old
Molly Hare dug the post holes -- but me and the mules had to set the
posts and string the wire!' It was shortly after this episode that the
above-mentioned verse appeared, and began to be used by callers
when the tune 'Old Molly Hare' was played.
(Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
The tune was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's; also recorded for the Library of Congress in 1939 by Herbert Halpert from the playing of Tishomingo County, Mississippi, fiddler W.E. Claunch and Meridian, Mississippi, fiddler W.A. Bledsoe (who was originally from Tennessee). The tune/song appears in several older collections: Brown (3:211-13), collected mostly from black informants; Richardson (American Mountain Songs) and Randolph (2:359) contain versions from white sources, the latter from the Ozark Mountains. (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
LYRICS:
Old Granny Blair, what're you doin' there,
Goin' through the cotton patch hard as I can tear.
Leg like a deer, foot like a bear,
Goin' through the cotton patch as hard as I can tear.
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