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The Jackfish/Hook and Line/Shout Lula
Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Virginia, Southeast
ARTIST: Sung by Mr. Ebe Richards at St. Peter’s School Calloway, Va., Aug. 18, 1918. From Cecil Sharp’s EFSSA No. 251, pg. 361
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes; DATE: 1844
HOOK AND LINE SONGS: The title for the large family of songs that have originated from the “Old Dad” minstrel song in 1844 including "Shout Lula," "Shout Lou," "Shout Old Lulu," "Hook and Line," “The Shad,” "Banjo Sam," "Mr. Catfish," "Shout Lulu," "Jackfish" "Seven and A Half," "Just From Tennessee," "Shout Oh Lulu," “Fish on a Hook,” and “Buck Creek Gals.”
The “hook and line” songs can be split into two basic categories; the “hook and line” (Fish that catfish by its snout/ Turn that catfish wrong side out) songs that talk about fishing and the “Shout Lula” (Shout, Lulu, shout, Lulu, shout, shout/ What in the world you shoutin’ ‘bout?) songs. “Shout Lula” is a fast banjo version from the Appalachian region.
HOOK AND LINE: The title first appears as a recording by the Dykes Magic City Trio in 1927. George Roark recorded “Hook and Line” in 1928 in Bristol, TN on Vi uniss, while the Hatton Brothers did a version with square dance calls in Richmond Ind., 1933. Here’s an excerpt from the Dykes Magic City Trio version:
Gimme the hook and gimme the line
Gimme that girl they call Caroline
Shout, Lula, shout, shout
What in the world are you shoutin' about.
Hook and Line Recording Info: Cornett, Bill (Banjo Bill). Mountain Music of Kentucky, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40077, CD (1996), cut#1.02; Holcomb, Roscoe. High Lonesome Sound, Folkways FA 2368, LP (1965), cut#A.04; Holcomb, Roscoe. High Lonesome Sound, Smithsonian SF 40104, CD (1998), cut# 7; Powell, Dirk;, John Herrman, Tom Sauber. One Eyed Dog, Yodel-Ay-Hee 008, Cas (1993), cut# 4; Sexton, Lee "Boy". Whoa Mule, June Appal JA 0051, LP (1987), cut# 7; Sexton, Morgan. Shady Grove, June Appal JA 0066C, Cas (1992), cut# 25; Sexton, Morgan. Rock Dust, June Appal JA 0055, LP (1989), cut# 9; Thompson, Joe; and Odell Thompson. Oldtime Music from the North Carolina Piedmont, Global Village Global-C217, Cas (1989), cut# 7;
JACKFISH: Jackfish is another name for a chain pickerel (common to the Appalachian region) and the song appears by that name from Sharp’s English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. It appears that the name originally was “catfish” but through the folk process was changed to: “Fish that jackfish by its snout/ Turn that jackfish wrong side out.” It also appears as “The Shad” in Sharp’s English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. Here’s a typical verse from the ‘Jackfish:”
That old Jackfish swimming up the stream,
I asked that Jackfish what did he mean.
Just baited a hook to catch a shad,
The first thing he bit was my old Dad.
The chain pickerel, Esox niger , also called a jackfish, black pike, green pickerel, green pike, and justjack by swampers, is an exciting fish that loves to jump, and more than one fisherman has been surprised by a slap in the face by a flying jackfish. A solitary fish, it prefers quiet waters with heavy vegetation, where it stalks its prey. The chain pickerel is a popular gamefish in the northeast and is caught by ice fishermen during the winter, but the world angling record for the chain pickerel was set in Georgia in 1961 at nine pounds, six ounces. The northern pike is also nicknamed a “Jackfish.”
Mr. Catfish: The Mr. Catfish lyric appears in several minstrel tunes including “Turkey in the Straw,” and “Keemo Kimo:”
Met Mr. Catfish comin' down stream.
Says Mr. Catfish, "What does you mean?"
Caught Mr. Catfish by the snout,
And turned Mr. Catfish wrong side out.
Gaster, Marvin. Uncle Henry's Favorites, Rounder 0382, CD (1996), cut#15
Banjo Sam: First appears in the JAF in 1909. Here’s an excerpt of Wilmer Watts’ "Banjo Sam:”
I went a fishin' and I fished for shad,
First I caught was my old dad.
Jerked him up and he fell back,
Next one was a great big cat.
Throwed my hook in the middle of a hole,
catfish got my hook and pole,
Hello, banjo Sam.
Coltman, Bob. Before They Close the Minstrel Show, Minstrel JD-202, LP (1975), cut#A.02; Watts, Wilmer; and the Lonely Eagles. Paramount Old Time Tunes, JEMF 103, LP (197?), cut#A.01;
FISH ON A HOOK: Fish on a Hook is often called Hook and Line or Shout Lula by banjo-players and may be based on an early minstrel tune, My Old Dad. The identifying lyric appears: “Fish on a hook, fish on a line/ Fish no more 'til the summer time.”
Recording Info for Fish Upon the Hook: Stefanini, Rafe. Hell and Scissors, County CD-2728, CD (1999), cut#13b; Dan Tate on Far in the Mountains; Hobart Smith fiddles a spirited version of the tune, titled Katy Went Fishing With Her Hook and Line, on Rounder CD 1701 ('It's a real old piece, handed down from my fathers', according to Hobart.).
SHOUT LULA: Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; east Tenn., southwestern Va., north Georgia, north Carolina, Ohio. G Major. GDAD. AABB. Art Rosenbaum (1989) says "this song is much more current in the tradition than its absence from printed collections would suggest." A banjo piece and dance tune, it was the repertoires of Dock Boggs and John Dykes (of the Dykes Magic City Trio) under the title "Hook and Line." One of the earliest recordings is Samantha Bumgarner’s as “Shout Lou” in 1924 on Co 146-D.
Rufus Crisp, Woody Wachtel, Roscoe Holcomb, Pete Steele, Ralph Stanley, and Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877-1952 (Russell County, southwest Va.) played it as well as Uncle John Patterson (Carroll County, Ga.), a sometimes Skillet Lickers hanger-on who learned to pick the tune on the banjo "on his mother's {champion banjoist Bessie Patterson} lap when he was three years old" (Rosenbaum). Here’s a short excerpt from “Shout Lula:”
Shout Lula shout, shout, what in the world you shoutin' bout,
(Banjo fill)
Shout Lula shout, shout Grandma's done run out.
(Banjo fill)
Since "Shout Lula" seems to related to blues and work "hollers" perhaps the "Lula" originally refers to Lula, Mississippi or the Lula women from that town. Here's an excerpt of the lyrics to "Dry Well Blues" by Charlie Patton:
Lord, the Lula womens, Lord, puttin' Lula young mens down
Lula men, oh, puttin' Lula men down
Lord, you outta been there, Lord, the womens all leavin' town
Recording Info on Shout Lula: Acuff, Roy. Steamboat Whistle Blues (1936-39), Rounder SS023, LP (1985), cut# 7; Bowles, Jim. I Kind of Believe It's A Gift, Meriweather Meri 1001-2, LP (198?), cut# 8; Bumgarner, Samantha “Shout Lou” in 1924 on Co 146-D; Crisp, Rufus. Rufus Crisp, Folkways FA 2342, LP (1972), cut#A.01 (Shout Little Lulu/Lulie/Luly); Foreacre, Louise. Close to Home, Smithsonian/Folkways SF 40097, CD (1997), cut# 9 (Shout Little Lulu/Lulie/Luly); Grayson and Whitter. Going Down Lee Highway, Davis Unlimited DU 33033, LP (1977), cut# 8; Iron Mountain String Band (Galax). Music from the Mountain, Heritage (Galax) 101C, Cas (1992), cut# 1; Jenkins, Oren. American Banjo, Folkways FA 2314, LP (1966), cut# 8; Jenkins, Snuffy; and Pappy Sherrill. 33 Years of Pickin' and Pluckin', Rounder 0005, LP (1971), cut# 2; New Lost City Ramblers. String Band Instrumentals, Folkways FA 2492, LP (1964), cut#B.08; Roan Mountain Hilltoppers. Down Home, Roan Mountain, CD (2000/1983), cut#15; Stanley Brothers. Stanley Brothers on the Air, Wango 115, LP (1976), cut#B.03 (Shout Little Lulu/Lulie/Luly); Stanley, Ralph. Man and his Music, Rebel SLP 1530, LP (1974), cut# 1; Steele, Pete. Anglo-American Songs and Ballads, Library of Congress AFS L21, LP (196?), cut# 6 (Shout Little Lulu/Lulie/Luly) Louis Foreacre sings Shout Little Lulu on Smithsonian Folkways SF CD 40097.
BUCK CREEK GALS- 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.
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.
From Ed Haley’s web-site: Steve Green gave us lists of tune titles collected from college students at Berea, Kentucky in 1915. Both Cripple Creek and one of its other names, Buck Creek Gals, show up. This tune is essentially Ida Red although both tunes have maintained some kind of separate identity over the years. Fiddler Ed Haley plays both in 'G' but most fiddlers we know play them in 'A'. He plays them in a way that makes the differences between the two stand out more than any other fiddler we've ever heard. The Kessinger Brothers called it Goin' Up Brushy Run.
There are two versions collected by Sharp in EFSSA in 1917 entitled Cripple Creek because the lyrics mention “Cripple Creek.” New City Lost Ramblers version is basically a banjo solo with Sharp’s lyric added on. Sometimes square dance calls are also added:
Buck Creek Girls (Long frailing style banjo solo)
Buck Creek Girls want to go to Cripple Creek,
Cripple Creek girls want to go to town.
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 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.”
OLD DAD Fiddle Tune: Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Virginia. G Major. Standard. AB. The old-time tune "Old Dad" is related to a minstrel song which employed the melody published by Dan Emmett in 1844.
Sources for Old Dad: Charlie Higgins (b. 1880 Grayson County, Virginia) [Krassen]. Krassen (Masters of Old-Time Fiddling), 1983; pg. 41. AFS L62, John Rector (Va.) - "American Fiddle Tunes." Bruce, W. Guy. Folk Visions & Voices. Traditional Music & Song in North Georgia, University of Georgia, Bk (1983), p140;
Recording Info on Old Dad: Lundy Family. Back in Galax Again, Heritage (Galax) 105, Cas (1992), cut#B.01; Patterson, John. Old-Time Tunes from Coal Creek, Heritage (Galax) 005, LP, cut# 14; Rector, John. Round the Heart of Old Galax, Vol 3., County 535, LP (1980), cut# 11; Fall Creek Ramblers. 28th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers Convention. Galax, Virginia 1963, Kanawha 302, LP (1963), cut# 6 (Old Dad);
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).
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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 OF SONG: “Old Dad” "Shout Lula," "Shout Lou," "Shout Old Lulu," "Hook and Line," "Banjo Sam," "Mr. Catfish," "Shout Lulu," "Jackfish" "Seven and A Half," "Just From Tennessee," "Shout Oh Lulu" “Buck Creek Gals,”
OTHER NAMES FOR FIDDLE TUNE: "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,” and the most common title among northern fiddlers: “The Pigtown Fling,” among the mid-west fiddlers known as “Walk Along John.”
SONG RELATED TO: “Jawbone,” “Jordan Is a Hard Road To Travel, I Believe” “Roustabout;” “Hush Little Baby,” “Say, Darlin’ Say” “Hush Little Baby”
FIDDLE TUNE RELATED TO: “Temperance Reel” “Nigger in the Woodpile,” ‘Walk Along John,”
FLOATING LYRICS FROM: “Turkey in the Straw,” “Keemo Kimo”
NOTES: The extensive dissemination of this large song/fiddle tune family seems to originated from “Old Dad,” a tune collected by Daniel Emmett around 1840. The tune called “Kelton's Reel," in Ireland, 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.”
“Old Dad” first appeared in printed form in an 1844 collection by Dan Emmett (composer of Dixie) called, Old Dan Emmett's Original Banjo Melodies, Second Series. Emmett used the tune, put his own words to it, and called it Old Dad, which is how it is known today in southwest Virginia.
Emmett did not claim the song as his own composition and, though the words may well be his, it is likely that the tune was already well-known, and may in fact be of British origin. Krassen (1983) says the title "Old Dad" appears to be local to Grayson County, (Southwestern) Va. Interestingly, the famous Norwegian classical violinist Ole Bull, who concertized during several tours to the United States in the mid-19th century, lent his name to the Ole Bull Violin Instruction Book; A Complete School for the Violin....., published in 1845, which contains (among the "Ethiopian Melodies") a tune called "Old Dad." Bull was known to play fiddle tunes as encores to his performances, and often featured regional pieces from his concert venues, though it is not known whether he played "Old Dad" or not.
A version of Hook and Line/Banjo Sam appears in the Journal of American Folklore in 1909 with the verse “the first fish bit was my old ad.” Norm Cohen, who gives a transcription of Roscoe Holcomb's version of 'Hook & Line' in the marvelous booklet for 'Paramount Oldtime Tunes,' explains: Dan Emmett's composition titled 'Old Dad', published in 1844, leaves no doubt in my mind that "dad" is the original locution (of the 1909 JAF song), though whether it is indeed a fish, or a father, or some other stock minstrel figure is not clear to me. The fourth stanza of Emmett’s "Old Dad" is related to one stanza of Wilmer Watts' "Banjo Sam":
My mudder once did 'spres a wish
Dat I should go and cotch some fish
I bate my hook to cotch a shad
But the first fish bit was my old dad [Nathan, 446]'
The “Jackfish/Catfish” lyric appears in the other minstrel songs such as “Turkey in the Straw,” "Ain’t I Glad To Get Out of the Wilderness." “Turkey in the Straw,” was "undoubtedly in American folk tradition before the 19th century," says Bronner (1987), and that popular theater and minstrel groups during the 19th century helped consolidate and spread its popularity (it was often called "Old Zip Coon" in minstrel tradition). Fuld reports the title "Turkey in de Straw" appeared in 1861 attached to the tune through new song lyrics, copyrighted by one Dan Bryant (Emmett sand with Bryants minstrel troupe), the melody labeled only an "old melody."
TURKEY IN THE STRAW:
Met Mr. Catfish comin' down stream.
Says Mr. Catfish, "What does you mean?"
Caught Mr. Catfish by the snout,
And turned Mr. Catfish wrong side out.
Turkey in the straw, turkey in the hay,
Roll 'em up and twist 'em up a high tuckahaw
And twist 'em up a tune called Turkey in the Straw.
AIN'T I GLAD TO GET OUT OF THE WILDERNESS:
I steered right straight for de critter's snout,
De critter's snout, de critter's snout,
Turned de catfish inside out,
Way down in Alabam.
The “caught Mr. Catfish by the snout,” lyric seems to have been the original lyric but the catfish has been transformed into a “jackfish” and even a “hogfish.”
“Hook and Line” is also related to Roustabout (Dink Roberts' [1894-1989] version) and has the “hook and line” verse. There are also versions from black roustabouts that have the “hook and line” verse.
The songs are frequently played on the banjo (fretless gourd banjo) clawhammer or mountain style. The "Hook and Line" melodies have been combined with “Roustabout,” “Granny Will your Dog Bite?” and sometimes “Hog-eye” songs making identification difficult. See notes to “Jackfish” above.
Here are the lyrics to “Jackfish” from Sharp’s EFSSA:
That old Jackfish swimming up the stream,
And I asked that Jackfish what did he mean.
I grabbed that Jackfish by the snout,
And took that Jackfish wrong side out.
O de lor de lor gal, sindy, sindy,
Lor de lor gal, sindy, sue.
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