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Hop High Ladies
Traditional Old-Time Breakdown and Song (Miss McCleod’s Reel/ McCloud’s Reel).
ARTIST: Perrow; From Virginia country whites; from memory; 1909. CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: The British Isles at the beginning of the nineteenth century (Early 1800’s).
RECORDING INFO: Uncle Dave Macon, "Hop Light Ladies The Cake's All Dough" (Vocalion 5154, 1927); Fiddlin' Powers & Family, "Did You Ever See The Devil, Uncle Joe?" (Okeh 45268, 1928); Red Fox Chasers, "Did You Ever See The Devil, Uncle Joe" (Champion 15522, 1928); New Lost City Ramblers, "Hop High, Ladies" (on NLCR10) ; "Hop High, Ladies, the Cake's All Dough;" Powell, Dirk. Hand Me Down, Rounder 0444, CD (1999), cut# 2; Trip to Sligo, Silver Spear, sof (1978), cut#p38; Bogtrotters (Bog Trotters). Original Bogtrotters, Biograph RC 6003, LP (196?), cut# 10 (Hop Up Ladies); Boys of the Lough. Good Friends - Good Music, Philo 1051, LP, cut#B.03 (Hop High Ladies); Brady, Rafe. Cherokee Rose, Heritage (Galax) 032, LP (1981), cut# 6 (Hop Light Ladies); Cahill, Eddie. Ah! Surely, Shanachie 29014, LP (1979), cut#A.04a; Cedar Point String Band. Cedar Point String Band, Roane, Cas (1993), cut# 5 (McLeod's Reel); Clemens, Alice. Fiddlin' Fever, UCA, LP (197?), cut# 13; Conlan, Festy. Breeze From Erin, Topic 12T 184, LP (1969), cut#B.05b; Dalton, Frank. Old Originals, Vol. 1, Rounder 0057, LP (1978), cut# 15 (Hop Light Ladies); Dr. Corn's Bluegrass Remedy. It'll Tickle Your Innards, Grassroots GR 004, LP (1977), cut#A.03 (Hop High Ladies); Faier, Billy. Art of the Five String Banjo, Riverside RLP 12-813, LP (1957), cut#A.04b (MacLeod's Reel); Fitzgerald, Tom. Irish Songs and Dances, Colonial LP-224, LP (196?), cut#B.05; Fraser, Willie. Caledonian Companion, Topic 12ST 266, LP (1975), cut# 17b (Miss MacLeod of Rothesay); Furey, Ted. Toss the Feathers, Outlet SOLP 1020, LP (1973), cut# 10; Gaskin, Phyllis. Mountain Dulcimer - Galax Style, Heritage (Galax) 094C, Cas (1991), cut# 14 (Hop Light Ladies); Grossman, Stefan. Memphis Jellyroll, Kicking Mule Km 118, LP (1974), cut#B.06; Hanafin, Michael C.. Milestone at the Garden. Irish Fiddle Masters from the 78 RPM..., Rounder 1123, CD (1996), cut#21a; Hash, Albert; and the Whitetop Mountain Band. Albert Hash and the Whitetop Mountain Band, Heritage (Galax) 025, LP (1979), cut# 6 (Did You Ever See the Devil Uncle Joe?); Hilt, John/Johnny. Union Grove, The Hub of the Universe, Union Grove SS-4, LP (1970), cut# 17; Hollow Rock String Band. Traditional Dance Tunes, Kanawha 311, LP (197?), cut# 7c (Hop Light Ladies); Holt, David. It Just Suits Me, June Appal JA 0038, LP (1981), cut# 14 (Hop Light Ladies); Holy Modal Rounders. Holy Modal Rounders, Prestige PR 7720, LP (1964), cut# 13; Holy Modal Rounders. Holy Modal Rounders, Fantasy 24711, LP (1972), cut#4.06 (Hop High Ladies); Hughes, Delbert. Home Recordings., Augusta Heritage AHR 015, Cas (1994), cut#B.11; Hunter, Tommy. Deep in Tradition, June Appal JA 0007, LP, cut# 20 (Mrs. McCloud's Reel); Hunter, Tommy. Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle, Ivy Creek ICR 201, Cas (1992), cut# 1; Kelly, Gene. Irish Traditional Instrumental Music, v.1. East Coast of America, Rounder 6005, LP (1987), cut# 22b; Kessinger, Clark. Clark Kessinger Memorial Album, Kanawha 327, LP (197?), cut# 4 (Did You Ever See the Devil Uncle Joe?); Kretzner, Leo; and Jay Leibovitz. Pigtown Fling, Green Linnet SIF 1019, LP (1979), cut#A.05; Macon, Uncle Dave. Wait Till the Clouds Roll By, Historical HLP-8006, LP (196?), cut# 6 (Hop High Ladies); Macpherson Singers and Dancers of Scotland. Caledonia! The Macpherson Singers and Dancers of Scotland, Elektra EKL-191, LP (1960), cut#A.02b; Marion, Carlie. Going Across the River to Hear my Banjo Ring, Marimac 9018, Cas (1988), cut# 23 (Hop Light Ladies); Morrison, Mary. World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: Scotland, Vol 3, Rounder 1743, CD (1998), cut#33b (Mrs. Macleod of Rassay) ; Moss, Frazier. Fiddling with Frazier, Plateau NR-3508, LP (197?), cut#A.03 (Uncle Joe); New Lost City Ramblers. Sing Songs of the New Lost City Ramblers, Aravel AB-1005, LP, cut# 3 (Hop High Ladies); New Lost City Ramblers. Folk Music of the Newport Folk Festival 1959-60. Vol 2, Folkways FA 2432, LP (1961), cut#A.04 (Hop High Ladies); O'Sullivan, Gabe. Joe & the Gabe. Songs and Music of Galway, Green Linnet SIF 1018, LP (1979), cut# 2; Old Virginia Fiddlers. Old Time Fiddle, Patrick County, VA, County 201, LP (1977), cut# 13 (Hop High Ladies); Patterson, John. Old Originals, Vol. 2, Rounder 0058, LP (1978), cut# 9 (Did You Ever See the Devil Uncle Joe?); Peters, Barney. World Famous and Justly Popular Barney Peters, Liberty LRP-3538, LP (1967), cut# 11 (Barney's Reel); Poole, Charlie; and the North Carolina Ramblers. Old Time Songs, County 505, LP (196?), cut# 10 (Mountain Reel); Ritchie, Jean. Saturday Night and Sunday Too, Riverside RLP 12-620, LP (1956), cut#A.10 (Hop Up, My Ladies); Roberts, Fiddlin' Doc. Classic Fiddle Tunes, Davis Unlimited DU 33015, LP (197?), cut# 5 (Did You Ever See the Devil Uncle Joe?); Sanderson, Al. Tenino Old Time Music Festival. 1970-72, Voyager VRLP 308-S, LP (197?), cut# 10 (Uncle Joe); Schilling, Jean and Lee. Porches of the Poor, Traditional JLS 617, LP (1971), cut# 6 (Uncle Joe); Seeger, Peggy. Folk Songs with the Seegers, Prestige PR 7375, LP (1965), cut# 11d (Medley Of Play Party Songs); Seeger, Peggy. Three Sisters, Prestige International 13029, LP (195?), cut#B.08d (Hop Up, My Ladies); Sexton, Lee; Band. Best of Seedtime on the Cumberland, June Appal JA 0059C, Cas (198?), cut# 1; Shannon, Joe; and John(ny) McGreevy. Noonday Feast, Green Linnet SIF 1023, LP (1980), cut# 11c; Shippee, Uncle Joe. New England Traditional Fiddling, JEMF 105, LP (1978), cut# 3a; Skillet Lickers. Folk Music in America, Vol. 4, Dance Music, Reels, Polkas, ..., Library of Congress LBC-04, LP (1976), cut#B.07; Smith, Ralph Lee. Dulcimer; More Old-Time and Traditional Music, Skyline DD-106, LP (1975), cut# 17 (Hop High Ladies) ; Stoneman's Dixie Mountaineers. Ernest V. Stoneman & his Dixie Mountaineers. 1927-28, Historical HLP-8004, LP (196?), cut# 3 (Hop Light Ladies); Stoneking, Lee R.. Missouri Old Time Fiddling, Stoneking, LP (197?), cut#B.03 (Uncle Joe); Tannahill Weavers. Tannahill Weavers IV, Green Linnet SIF 3102, LP (1982), cut#B.02b (Mrs. Macleod of Rassay); Tansey, Seamus; w. Eddie Corcoran. Masters of the Irish Flute, Leader LEA 2005, LP (1970), cut# 10b; Touhey, Patrick J.. Wheels of the World. Classics of Irish Traditional Music, Shanachie 33001, LP (1976), cut#A.03c; Warren, Paul. America's Greatest Breakdown Fiddle Player, CMH 6237, LP (1979), cut# 14 (Hop Light Ladies); Wilson, Nile. Tie Hacker Hoe-down, MSOTFA 202-CS, Cas (1995), cut#2.07 (Uncle Joe); Wine, Melvin. Vintage Wine, Marimac AHS 6, Cas (1993), cut#A.03 (Uncle Joe); Ross County Farmers. Farmer's Frolic, Marimac 9013, Cas (1987), cut# 15; Country Gentlemen. Country Gentlemen, Rebel RLP 1478, LP (196?), cut# 11; Rustical Quality String Band. Rustical Quality String Band, Red Dog RD 8312, LP (1983), cut#A.04, Folkways FA 2494, "Sing Songs of the New Lost City Ramblers" (1978). Philo 1042, Boys of the Lough (with old-time mandolinist Kenny Hall) - "The Piper's Broken Finger" (1976). Vocalation 5154 (78 RPM), Uncle Dave Macon. Biograph 6003, The Bogtrotters- "The Original Bogtrotters" (appears as "Hop Up Ladies"). Brunswick (78 RPM), John McDermott (N.Y. state), 1926 (appears as 1st tune of "Virginia Reel Medley"). CCF2, Cape Cod Fiddlers - "Concert Collection II" (1999). County 201, The Old Virginia Fiddlers- "Rare Recordings" (appears as "Hop Light Ladies"). Davis Unlimited 33015, Doc Roberts- "Classic Fiddle Tunes" (appears as "Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe"). Gael-Linn CEF 045, "Paddy Keenan" (1975. Appears as "McLeod's Reel/Cor Mhic Leoid"). Glencoe 001, Cape Breton Symphony- "Fiddle." Globestyle Irish CDORBD 085, The Kerry Fiddle Trio - "The Rushy Mountain" (1994. Reissue of Topic recordings). Green Linnet 1023, Joe Shannon and Johnny McGreevy- "The Noonday Feast." Green Linnet SIF1122, Kevin Burke - "Open House" (1992). John Edwards Memorial Foundation JEMF-105, Uncle Joe Shippee - "New England Traditional Fiddling" (1978). June Appal 007, Thomas Hunter- "Deep in Tradition." Nimbus NI 5320, Ciaran Tourish et al. - "Fiddle Sticks: Irish Traditional Music from Donegal" (1991). Rounder 0057, Frank Dalton and George Wood- "Old Originals, Vol. 1" (appears as "Hop Light Ladies"). Rounder 0058, John Patterson- "Old Originals, Vol. II" (appears as "Did You Ever See the Devil, Uncle Joe?"). Shanachie 33001, Patrick J. Touhey- "The Wheels of the World." Tennvale 001S, Bob Douglas- "Old Time Dance Tunes Fron the Sequatchie Valley" (Appears as "Hop Light Ladies"). Tennvale 003, Pete Parish- "Clawhammer Banjo." Topic 12T309, Padraig O'Keeffe, Denis Murphy & Julia Clifford - "Kerry Fiddles." Transatlantic 341, Dave Swarbrick- "Swarbrick 2." Victor 20537 (78 RPM), Mellie Dunham, 1926 (appears as 1st tune of "Medley of Reels"). Mickey Doherty - "The Gravel Walks."
OTHER NAMES: “Uncle Joe”; “Hop Light Lady” “Hop High Ladies, the Cake's All Dough”; "Did You Ever See The Devil, Uncle Joe?"; Hop Up Ladies;” “Hop High, My Lulu Gal” “Miss McLeod of Raasay's” “Miss McCleod's/McCloud's Reel” "(Miss) McCloud's Reel," "Mrs. MacLeod Raasay," "Miss McLeod's Reel," "Did You Ever Go To Meetin' Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe?" "Do You Want to go to Heaven, Uncle Joe?" "Run Here, Johnny, There's a Bug Done Got on Me."
RELATED TO: “Jump Jim Crow;” Ole Buzzard ; Blackberry Blossom (Irish) ; Cutty Sark ; Coal Branch Reel "Green Mountain," "Knickerbocker Reel," "Billy Boy," "Sally's Hornpipe," "Walk Jaw Bone," "Whitewash Station."
SOURCES: Fiddler Henry Reed (Library of Congress); W.S. Collins (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede]. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 13, pg. 6 (appears as "Don't You Want to Go to Heaven, Uncle Joe?"). Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 99. Randolph 252, "Jump Jim Crow;" Collins, W. S.. Fiddle Book, Oak, Bk (1967), p 99; Lomax-FSNA 116, "Uncle Joe". Cohen/Seeger/Wood, pp. 64-65, "Hop High Ladies, the Cake's All Dough". Gilbert, p. 18, "Jim Crow". Silber-FSWB, p. 33, "Uncle Joe;" Rice, Phil. Old Time Herald, Old Time Herald OTH, Ser (1987-), 4/7, p38; Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p 31c (McLeod's Reel); Traditional Music in America, Folklore Associates, Bk (1940/1965), p 47b (Uncle Joe); Grossman, Stefan. Contemporary Ragtime Guitar, Oak, Sof (1972), p39; New Lost City Ramblers. Old-Time String Band Songbook, Oak, Sof (1964/1976), p 64 (Hop High Ladies); Willhite, Rance. Fiddle Book, Oak, Bk (1967), p100 (Uncle Joe); Michael Coleman (Co. Sligo/New York) [DeMarco and Krassen], John McDermott, (New York State, 1926) [Bronner], 8 southwestern Pa. fiddlers [Bayard]; a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman]; accordion player Johnny O'Leary (Sliabh Luachra region of the Cork-Kerry border), recorded at Na Piobairi Uilleann, October, 1984 [Moylan]. Adam, No. 20. Allan's Irish Fiddler, No. 69, pg. 17. American Veteran Fifer, 1927; No. 6. Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 25a, pg. 6 (appears as "Mr. Mc Law'd a Popular Dance"). Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 249A-H, pgs. 211-213. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 192. Bronner (Old Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 4, pg. 26 (appears as 1st tune of "Virginia Reel Medley"). Burchenal (American Country Dances, Vol. 1), 1918; pgs. 10-11 (appears as "Virginia Reel" [2]). Cazden (Dances from Woodland), 1945; pg. 24. Cazden (Folk Songs of the Catskills), pg. 29. Cole (1001 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 29 (appears as "Miss McCloud's"). DeMarco and Krassen (Trip to Sligo), 1978; pgs. 38, 52, 66. Gale, No. 30. Hardings All Round Collection, 1905; No. 183, pg. 58. Hardings Original Collection and Harding Collection, No. 36. Howe (Diamond School for the Violin), 1861; pg. 44. Howe, 1951; pg. 34. Jarman (Old Time Fiddlin' Tunes), No. or pg. 10. Kennedy (Fiddlers Tune Book), Vol. 1, 1951; No. 48, pg. 24 (appears as "May Day"). Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; pg. 5. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddlers Repertoire), 1983; No. 109. Moylan (Johnny O'Leary), 1994; No. 143, pg. 84. O'Malley, pgs. 10 & 22. O'Neill (1915 ed.), 1987; No. 275, pg. 140. O'Neill (Krassen), 1976; pg. 134. O'Neill (1850), 1903/1979; No. 1418, pg. 263. O'Neill (1001 Gems), 1907/1986; No. 655, pg. 117. Robbins, No. 96. Roche Collection, 1982, Vol. 1; No. 148, pg. 59. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 112, pg. 39. Smith (Scottish Minstrel), Vol. 4, pg. 50. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; pg. 136. Surenne, pg. 11. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 32. Trim (Thomas Hardy), 1990; No. 4 (appears as "Miss MacLeod of Ayr"). Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Vol. 1), 1999; pg. 19. White's Excelsior Collection, pg. 42. White's Unique Collection, No. 170.
NOTES: An American 'old-time' version of the Scottish "Miss McCloud's/Miss McLeod's Reel," the main difference being that the old-time version resolves to the tonic on the cadence, while the Scottish tune generally ends on the dominant. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Wade and Fields Ward (Galax, Va.) recorded the tune in 1937 for Alan Lomax (AAFS #1363).
Although some of the lyrics from “Jump Jim Crow” are found in “Hop High Ladies,” they are different songs. Thomas D. Rice introduced “Jump Jim Crow” in 1828 and it became a popular minstrel song. Lomax included collection Our Singing Country. That set is from the playing and singing of Fields and Wade Ward of Galax, Virginia, and Aaron Copland took the tune from the Lomax book (as Ruth Crawford Seeger had transcribed it) to use as the second instrumental tune in the "Hoedown" of Aaron Copland's music for Rodeo. The tune was also used in the world of popular music for another song, "Uncle Joe" ("Do you want to go to heaven, Uncle Joe?"), so some fiddlers know it by that title. Outside of the South, the tune is usually called either "McLeod's Reel" or "Miss McCloud's Reel".
HOP LIGHT LADIES: Known in parts of Virginia (esp. Patrick County) and Tennessee as “Hop Light Ladies”, and by Alabama fiddler D. Dix Hollis (1861-1927), who considered it one of "the good old tunes of long ago" (as mentioned in the Opelika Daily News of April 17th, 1926). Also played under this title by J.B. Crenshaw (Covington, Ga.) at a 1913 Atlanta, Ga., fiddlers' contest, and it is mentioned in reports of the De Kalb County (Alabama) Annual (Fiddlers) Conventions 1926-31. Under this title the tune was recorded by legendary Galax, Va., fiddler Emmett Lundy and by Steppville, Alabama, fiddler J.C. Glasscock (for the Gennett label, though it was unissued). The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes (as does its alternate, "Hop High Ladies") compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. A version played by elderly Franklin County, Georgia, banjoist Mabel Cawthorn was called "Run Here, Johnny, There's a Bug Done Got on Me."
MISS MCLEOD’S REEL: A universal favorite in the British Isles and North America. Apparently the tune was first printed in Gow's Strathspey Reels of 1809 (pg. 36), with the note "An original Isle of Skye Reel. Communicated by Mr. McLeod." It was popular as long ago as 1779 in Ireland as its playing is mentioned in an account by a foreign visitor named Berringer or Beranger of a "cake" dance (i.e. where the prize was a cake) he participated in while visiting in Connacht. O'Neill (1913) relates Beranger's observations somewhat differently and gives that it was one of six tunes played by Galway pipers in 1779 for the entertainment of the traveller. In modern times in Ireland the tune was included in a famous set of the late Donegal fiddlers, brothers Mickey and Johnny Doherty, who played it as the last tune after "Enniskillen Dragoons" and "Nora Criona" (Wise Nora), though sometimes they substituted "The Piper of Keadue" for "Miss McLeod's." The whole set was played in the rare AAAE tuning, which required playing in position (Caoimhin MacAoidh).
The melody has had a long history in America and has proved enduringly popular with fiddlers in many regions. Cauthen (1990) notes the tune's mention in the "Marion Standard" of April 30, 1909, which reported its having been played at a housewarming in Perry County, Alabama, in 1827. Bronner collected the tune from central New York fidders, who also knew it under the title "Virginia Reel" and, from one source, the "interchangable title" of "Campbells are Coming," a jig. Some confusion in his sources seems to stem from the interchangability of many triple and duple meter tunes under the "Virginia Reel" moniker, but Bronner states that versions of "Miss McLeod" in 12/8 time were "not uncommon" in his collecting experience. Samuel Bayard (1981) also wondered if "Miss McLeod" was a reworking of some set of the 6/8 time "The Campbells Are Coming," a family which includes (among others) "The Burnt Old Man" and "Hob or/and Nob." O'Neill (1913) has no doubts and states unequivocably that the 'McLeod' and 'Campbell' tunes either had a common origin or that the former was derived from the latter (or its Irish equivalent, "An Seanduine"). The title appears in a list of the repertoire of Maine fiddler Mellie Dunham (the elderly Dunham was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the mid-1920's) and it was cited as having commonly been played for Orange County, New York, country dances in the 1930's (Lettie Osborn, New York Folklore Quarterly). Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner remembered the tune being played in the Flagstaff-Williams (Ariz.) area in 1903 (Shumway). The title (as "MacLeod's Reel") appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. A rendering of the tune under the title "Mistress McCloud's Jig" was recorded by him for the Library of Congress from fiddlers in that region in the early 1940's. Bayard (1981) noted that the tune was usually played in the British Isles with with the parts ending on the second of the scale, resulting in an "endless" or "circular" tune, while fiddlers in the Americas usually ended on the tonic. Also in the repertoire of Uncle Jimmy Thompson (Texas, Tennessee) as "McLeod's Reel."
NOTES (HENRY REED): "Hop Light Lady"/"Hop Light Ladies" is a Southern American title, however, associated with some playful verses that have gained wider currency through having been published in the Lomax collection Our Singing Country. That set is from the playing and singing of Fields and Wade Ward of Galax, Virginia, and Aaron Copland took the tune from the Lomax book (as Ruth Crawford Seeger had transcribed it) to use as the second instrumental tune in the "Hoedown" of Aaron Copland's music for Rodeo. The tune was also used in the world of popular music for another song, "Uncle Joe" ("Do you want to go to heaven, Uncle Joe?"), so some fiddlers know it by that title. Outside of the South, the tune is usually called either "McLeod's Reel" or "Miss McCloud's Reel" (see, for example, Stewart-Robertson, Athole Collection, p. 6; One Thousand Fiddle Tunes, p. 29). British sets, print tradition, and some North American sets make it a circular tune, with both strains devolving directly into one another instead of coming to rest after a cadence at the end. But Henry Reed's set is typical of Southern sets in coming to rest on the tonic at the end of each strain.
HOP LIGHT LADIES
SONGS AND RHYMES FROM THE SOUTH BY E. C. PERROW.
(From Virginia; country whites; from memory; 1909.)
A.
Hop light, ladies, on the ballroom floor;
Never mind the weather, so the wind don't blow!
Hop light, ladies, on the ballroom floor;
Never mind the legs, so the garters don't show!
(From Mississippi; country whites; MS. of Dr. Herrington; 1909.)
B.
Hop light, ladies, yer cake's all dough;
Never mind the weather so the wind don't blow.
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