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Sheep Shell Corn by the Rattling of his Horn
Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Virginia, Arkansas.
ARTIST: Kuntz- Ragged but Right
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: 1800s
RECORDING INFO: Highwoods String Band (N.C.) [Kuntz]; Walt Koken & Bob Potts with the Highwoods String Band [Phillips]. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 357-358 (two versions). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 217. Heritage 056, Highwoods String Band- "The Young Fogies" (various artists). In the repertoire of Luther Davis, Galax, Va. Marimac 9000, Dan Gellert & Shoofly - "Forked Deer" (1986).
Benford, Mac. Backwoods Banjo, Rounder 0115, LP (1979), trk# 15a
Davis, Luther. Old Time Way, Heritage (Galax) 070, LP (1986), trk# 10 [1974/01/30]
Gaskin, Phyllis. Mountain Dulcimer - Galax Style, Heritage (Galax) 094C, Cas (1991), trk# 13
Highwoods String Band. Young Fogies, Heritage (Galax) 056, LP (198?), trk# 5
Lundy, Emmett. Fiddle Tunes from Grayson County, String 802, LP (1977), trk# 7 [1941/08]
Millar, Wade Hampton. In the Days I Went A-courtin', Acoustic Revival AR 33005, LP (1981), trk# A.06c
New Lost City Ramblers. 20th Aniversery Concert, Flying Fish FF 090, LP (1986), trk# B.07c
Parish, Roscoe. Old Time Way, Heritage (Galax) 070, LP (1986), trk# 31 [1984/03/23]
Silberberg, Gene. Silberberg, Gene (ed.) / Complete Fiddle Tunes I Either Did or Did Not., Silberberg, Fol (2005), p176
Steamboat Entertainers. Galax International, Heritage (Galax) 067, LP (1988), trk# D.05 [1985/06/10]
OTHER NAMES: "Fuller's Reel"
SOURCES: Kuntz; Emmet Lundy (Grayson County, Virginia) and the Highwoods String Band (N.C.) [Kuntz]; Walt Koken & Bob Potts with the Highwoods String Band [Phillips]. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 357-358 (two versions). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; pg. 217. Heritage 056, Highwoods String Band- "The Young Fogies" (various artists). In the repertoire of Luther Davis, Galax, Va. Marimac 9000, Dan Gellert & Shoofly - "Forked Deer" (1986).
NOTES: A Major ('A' part) & D Major/A Major ('B' part). Standard. AABB. Sheep Shell Corn was recently recorded by Ricky Skaggs on Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby. The song is old and dates back to the 1800s. The earliest printed version I have found was the 1901 book, "The Old Plantation" by James Battle Avirett.
The title (as "Sheepie Shell Corn") appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Brad Leftwich calls the melody "Fuller's Reel" after his source, who had no name for it.
***
Never seen the like since I was born,
Sheep shell corn by the rattlin' of his horn.
***
Corn's in the cupboard and the butter's in the churn,
Never seen the like since I was born.
***
Sheep shell corn by the rattle of his horn,
Never seen the like since I was born.
***
Sheep shell corn by the rattle of his horn,
Swing that gal with the red dress on. (Highwoods)
***
African-American collector Thomas Talley (born c. 1870) printed a song called "Sheep Shell Corn" in his 1922 book Negro Folk Rhymes (set to a completely different tune), that contains the first line of the Highwood's song, but introduces a supernatural element to the lyric:
***
De Ram blow de ho'n an' de sheep shell co'n;
An' he sen' it to de mill by de buck-eyed Whoppoorwill.
Ole Joe's dead an' gone but his Hant blows de ho'n;
An' his hound howls still from de top o' dat hill.
***
De Fish-hawk said unto Mistah Crane;
I wishes to de Lawd dat you'd sen' a liddle rain;
Fer de water's all muddy, an de creek's gone dry;
If it 'twasn't fer de tadpoles we'd all die.
***
When de sheep shell co'n wid de rattle of his ho'n,
I wishes to de Lawd I'd never been bo'n;
Caze when he Hant blows de ho'n, de sperits all dance,
An' de hosses an' de cattle, dey whirls 'round an' prance.
***
Yonder comes Skilled an' dere goes Pot;
An here comes Jawbone 'cross de lot.
Walk Jawbone! Beat de Skilled an' de Pat!
You cut dat Pigeon's Wing, Black Man!
***
Take keer, gemmuns, an' let me through,
Caze I'se gwinter dance wid liddle Mollie Lou.
But I'se never seed de lak since I'se been born,
When de sheep shell co'on wid de rattle of his ho'n!
Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist born in Eatonton, Georgia who wrote the Uncle Remus stories.[1] His stories gained popular success and included Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation (1880), Nights with Uncle Remus (1881 and 1882), Uncle Remus and His friends (1892) and Uncle Remus and the Little Boy (1905).
The stories, based on the African-American oral storytelling tradition, were revolutionary in their use of dialect. They featured a trickster hero called Br'er Rabbit ("Brother" Rabbit), who used his wits against adversity, though his efforts did not always succeed. Br'er Rabbit is a direct interpretation of Yoruba tales of Hare, though some others posit Native American influences as well.[2][3]
Harris began publishing his stories in the Atlanta Constitution in 1876 at a time of great interest in the South and in freedmen. They became popular among both black and white readers in the North and South, not least because they presented an idealized view of race relations soon after the Civil War.
Handler uses a similar lyric in his 1902 Wishing song:
Mr. Fox'll scrape de fiddle, Miss Cow'll blow de horn,
A-wish, wish, wishing
And de tune gwinter tell how de sheep shell corn.
An African-American verse and chorus were published the 1901 "The old Plantation" By James Battle Avirett:
VERSE: Hush Miss Betsy doan' you cry,
Your sweetheart will come by and by.
When he comes he'll come in blue,
To let you know his love am true.
CHORUS: Sheep shell corn by the rattle of his horn,
Send to the mill by the whip-poor-will.
In my opinion the lyrics evolved (or were collected) from Emmett's original Old Dan Tucker:
Here's my razor in good order,
Magnum Bonum- jis hab bought 'er,
Sheep shell de oats, old Tucker shell de corn
I'll shabe you all when de water gits warm.
from Daniel Decatur Emmett By Charles Burleigh Galbreath, 1904. Galbreath dates this back to the early 1930s from a manuscript book. He traces the melody of "Old Dan Tucker" to singer Henry Russell circa 1935.
Here's the evolution- taken from Fiddlin John Carson in the 1920s:
Out of the way, Old Dan Tucker
Out of the way, Old Dan Tucker
You come too late to get your supper
Sheep shell corn by the rattle of the horn
Shave old folks when the water gets warm
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