The Fiddler’s Companion

© 1996-2008 Andrew Kuntz

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SU - SV

[COMMENT1] 

 

Notation Note: The tunes below are recorded in what is called “abc notation.” They can easily be converted to standard musical notation via highlighting with your cursor starting at “X:1” through to the end of the abc’s, then “cutting-and-pasting” the highlighted notation into one of the many abc conversion programs available, or at concertina.net’s incredibly handy “ABC Convert-A-Matic” at

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html 

 

**Please note that the abc’s in the Fiddler’s Companion work fine in most abc conversion programs. For example, I use abc2win and abcNavigator 2 with no problems whatsoever with direct cut-and-pasting. However, due to an anomaly of the html, pasting the abc’s into the concertina.net converter results in double-spacing. For concertina.net’s conversion program to work you must remove the spaces between all the lines of abc notation after pasting, so that they are single-spaced, with no intervening blank lines. This being done, the F/C abc’s will convert to standard notation nicely. Or, get a copy of abcNavigator 2 – its well worth it.   [AK]

 

 

[COMMENT2] 

[COMMENT3] [COMMENT4] SUAN AGUS LAGAN. AKA and see “Gabhaidh Sinn an Rathad Mor,” “Stewart’s March.”

                                      

SUANTRAI CIARRAIGHE. Irish, Air (4/4 time). A Minor. Standard tuning. AAB. Roche Collection, 1982, vol. 3; No. 28, pg. 8.

           

SUANTVAIDHE. Irish, Air (4/4 time). G Dorian/F Major. Standard tuning. AB. The tune is identified in Howe as a lullaby. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; pg. 21.

X:1

T:Suantvaidhe

M:C

L:1/8

R:Air

S:Howe – 1000 Jig’s and Reels (c. 1867)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G Dorian

GA | B2A2B2 GA | B2 c>A B3B | c2G2 AGFE | G2F2F2 EF | G2G2 AGFE |

F2G2 e2 de | f2 ed cedc | =B2G2 A2 GF || E2G2 _BGFE | G2F2F4 |
E2G2 BGFE | G2F2F2 EF | G2G2 AGFE | F2G2e2 de | f2 ed cedc | =B2G2G2 ||

                       

SUAS AGUS SÍOS AN STAIGHRE. AKA and see “Up and Down the Stairs.”

 

SUAS AGUS SIOS ARIS. AKA and see "Up and Down Again."

 

SUAS AN STAIGHRE LEAT. AKA and see "Trip it Up Stairs [1]."

 

SUBAN NI MIC AEDA. AKA and see "Sally Magee."

 

SUBLIME WAS THE WARNING. AKA and see "(A) Sprig of Shillelagh [1]."

SUBSTITUTE WALTZ. Old‑Time, Waltz. USA, Oklahoma. In this case the melody was used to substitute for the "Tulsa Waltz [1]." G Major. Standard. AB. Source for notated version: Max Collins (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede]. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 155.

 

SUCCESS TO THE CAMPAIGN. AKA and see "The Successful Campaign." English, American; Reel. USA, New England. G Major. Standard tuning. AB (Barnes): AABB most versions). Johnson (1988) dates the tune to c. 1793, and prints contra dance instructions for it. However, it is not difficult to establish that the tune predates that year, for it was reliably reported to have been danced in 1780 at a ball given in Newport, Rhode Island, for George Washington and his staff. Arthur Tuckerman reports in his book When Rochambeau Stepped Ashore; A Reconstruction of Life in Newport in 1780 (Newport, Rhode Island, 1955, pp. 20-21) that “…asked to call the tune, [Gen.] Washington deferred to his beautiful partner [Ms. Margaret Champlain]. ‘A Successful Campaign’ she cried and Rochambeau and his aides took the instruments from the musicians and played that popular, and, in this instance, prophetic dance measure.” The dance must have been extremely popular that year, for it is referenced again by a French military engineer, the Marquis de Chastellux, after attending an assembly (i.e. ball) in Philadelphia on December 14th,  1780 (when the active theater of conflict in the American Revolution had moved south). He remarked that: “These dances, like the ‘toasts’ we drink at table, have a marked connection with politics: one is called ‘the success of the campaign’, another ‘Burgoyne’s defeat’, and a third, ‘Clinton’s retreat’…” (see Howard C. Rice Jr. ed. Travels in North America in the Years 1780, 1781 and 1782 by the Marquis de Chastellux, Chapel Hill, UNC Press, 1963, vol. 1, pg. 177).

***

In fact, the tune first appeared in London in John Walsh’s Twenty-Four Country Dances (1764), the publication Twenty-Four Country Dances for the Year 1769, and was reprinted in Thompson's 200 Country Dances, volume III (1773). It proved so popular a dance melody that nearly every manuscript collection after 1769 included it; for example it appears in the American manuscripts of John Greenwood 1785 (pg. 48), Aaron Beck, Elizabeth Van Rensselaer’s 1782 copybook, and in Captain George Bush’s manuscript from the Revolutionary War. The melody also appears in the late 18th century manuscript copybook of Henry Livingston, Jr.  Livingston purchased the estate of Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1771 at the age of 23. In 1775 he was a Major in the 3rd New York Regiment, which participated in Montgomery’s invasion of Canada in a failed attempt to wrest Montreal from British control. An important land-owner in the Hudson Valley, and a member of the powerful Livingston family, Henry was also a surveyor and real estate speculator, an illustrator and map-maker, and a Justice of the Peace for Dutchess County. He was also a musician and presumably a dancer, as he was elected a Manager for the New York Assembly’s dancing season of 1774-1775, along with his 3rd cousin, John Jay, later U.S. Chief Justice of Governor of New York. Matt Seattle (1987) points out that this tune closely resembles (especially in the 2nd strain) Vickers' version of "The Tipp Staff." Source for notated version: the MS collection of Captain George Bush (1753?-1797)  [Keller]. Barnes (English Country Dance Tunes, vol. 2), 2005; pg. 124. Keller (Fiddle Tunes from the American Revolution), 1992; pg. 13.  Johnson (Twenty-Eight Country Dances as Done at the New Boston Fair), vol. 8, 1988; pg. 8 (appears as "The Successful Campaign"). Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 3; No. 566. Sweet (Fifer’s Delight), 1965/1981; pg. 72 (appears as "A Successful Campaign").

X:1

T:Success to the Campaign

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

G2 GB A2 Ac | BGBd g4 | gfed edcB | c2 AG GFED | G2 GB A2Ac | BGBd g4 |

g2 ge f2fd | e2 e^c d4 :: d2 e=f e2d2 | c2B2c2A2 | c2 ce d2c2 | B2A2B2G2 |

G2GB A2Ac | BGBd g4 | gfed edcB | A2d2G4 :||

X:2

T:Successful Campaign

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Henry Livingston’s manuscript copybook, late 18th century

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

D2 | G3B A3c | BGBd g4 | gfed edcB | cABG F2 ED | G3B A3c | BGd g4 |

Gfed efge | f2e2d2 :: d3f e3d | c3B c3A | c2 df e2d2 | B2A2B2G2 |

A3B A3c | BGBd g4 | gfed efge | BGAF G4 :|

 

SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN, THE. AKA and see "Success to the Campaign."

 


SUCH A GETTIN' UPSTAIRS [1]. AKA and see "Getting Upstairs [2]," "Gittin' Upstairs," "Asa Hoge Tune,"  "Never Seen The Like." Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; Virginia, southwestern Pa., Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky. D Major (Bayard): C Major (Howe/Accordeon): G Major (Bayard). Standard. AB. An early version of the tune was published by George P. Knauff in his Virginia Reels, volume IV (Baltimore, 1839). Samuel Bayard (1981) thinks the tune may have originated as a stage or vaudeville number, and indeed, it was adopted by American minstrels and was first published as a minstrel song in the 1830's. It was in the repertoire of minstrel Thomas "Daddy" Rice and Sigmund Spaeth reports it was sung by P.T. Barnum in black-face. The minstrel publication mentions its interpretor as "Mr. Bob Farrell, the Original Zip Coon." The song was said by Brown to have been featured by one Barney Burns, a low comedian connected with a rural travelling circus in the mid-nineteenth century. Several writers, beginning with Winston Wilkinson (Southern Folklore Quarterly, Vol. VI, No. 1, March 1942, “Virginia Dance Tunes”), have found that “Such a Getting Upstairs” is derived from the morris dance tune “Getting Upstairs,” collected by Cecil Sharp and published in 1909.

***

Various ditties or rhymes have been collected with the melody in American tradition, including floating verses. Wilkinson (1942) printed these:

***

Old Molly Hyar, what you doin’ dar?

Settin’ in a cornder smokin’ a cigyar.

Such a gittin’ up sta’rs I never did see

Such a gittin’ up sta’rs I neved did see.

And:

Some love coffee, some love tea,

But I love the pretty girl that winks at me.

Such a gittin’ up stairs you never did see,

Such a gittin’ up stairs you never did see.

***

This rhyme was collected with one of Bayard's Pennsylvania-collected versions:

***

Went upstairs with a dollar and a half,

Came downstairs with a cow and a calf.

Such a gittin' upstairs I never did see,

Such a gittin' upstairs'll never do me.

***

The tune is probably the "Getting Upstairs" mentioned in a 1931 account of a LaFollette, northeast Tenn., fiddlers contest. It is similar to West Virginia fiddler French Carpenter's "Shelvin' Rock." The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Wilkinson finds a variant of the melody as a play-party tune collected in Indiana, and in similar use by children in Liverpool, England (where they sing a rhyme beginning “Up the streets and down the streets,” which Wilkinson sees as a possible morris dance relic). North Georgia fiddler Clayton McMichen, recording with the Skillet Lickers for Columbia in 1929 (No. 15472), sang the song as “Never Seen the Like Since Getting’ Upstairs.” The English collector Cecil Sharp made a cylindar recording of this tune in 1909 of the playing of English musician John Locke, Leominster, Hereford, described as a “gipsy fiddler” (see abc below).

***

Sources for notated versions: George Strosnider (elderly fiddler from Greene County, Pa., 1930's), Irvin Yaugher (fiddler from Fayette County, Pa., 1946; learned from his great‑uncle), Frank Thomas (elderly fiddler from Somerset County, Pa., 1946), Thomas Hoge (fiddler and fifer from Greene County, Pa., 1944; as he fiddled it in the 1870's), and Hiram White (elderly fiddler from Greene County, Pa., 1930's) [Bayard]; James H. “Uncle Jim” Chisholm (Albmarle County, Va) [Wilkinson]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 170A‑E, pgs. 122‑123. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 239. Howe (Complete Preceptor for the Accordeon), 1843; pg. 37. Wilkinson (Southern Folklore Quarterly), 1942; pg. 4. County 786, Clyde Davenport (Ky.) ‑ "Traditional Music From the Cumberland Plateau, Vol. 1."

X:1

T:Getting Upstairs

L:1/8

M:2/2

S:”Uncle Jim” Chisholm, Albermarle County, Va.

K:D

ag|fdec A2c2|dfed f2g2|fdec A2c2|1 dfec d2:|2 dfec d2 a>g||

f2g2a2d2|f2g2 a3a|b2a2g2f2|e2f2g2||

X:2

T:Such a Getting Up Stairs

M:2/4

L:1/8

S:Howe – Complete Preceptor for the Accordeon (1843)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:C

EFGc | E2 FG | AG FE | DE F2 :|

|: G/F/ | E/C/D/B,/ G,C | B,/C/D/E/ F/A/G/F/ | E/C/D/B,/ G,C | B,/C/D/E/ C :|

X:3

T:Getting Up Stairs I Never Did See

M:4/4

L:1/8

S:John Locke (1909)

K:A

ed | c2A2E2A2 | GABc dfed | c2A2E2A2 | GABG A2 :|

e2 | c3d e2A2 | c2d2e4 | f2e2d2c2 | B2c2 dfed |

c3d e2A2 | c2d2 e4 | f2e2d2c2 | B2c2 dfed ||

 

SUCH A GITTIN' UPSTAIRS [2]. AKA and see "Injun Et a Woodchuck [1]."

                       

SUCH A PARCEL OF ROGUES IN A NATION. AKA and see "The Rashes," "The Wee(, Wee) German Lairdie," "Wha the Deil Hae We Gotten for a King?" "Boyne Water [1]," "Cavalcade of the Boyne," "When the King Came O'er the Water," "King William's March." Scottish, Air.

                       

SUCH A WIFE AS I HAVE GOTTEN. See “Sic a Wife as I hae Gotten.”

                       

SUCH A WIFE AS WILLY HAD. Northumbrian, Reel. D Major. Standard. AABB. Seattle (William Vickers), 1987, Part 2; No. 253.

                       

SUCH THINGS ARE. English, Jig. England, North‑West. G Major. Standard. AAB. Knowles (Northern Frisk), 1988; No. 89.

                       

SUCH WERE THE JOYS OF MY DANCING DAYS. Northumbrian. The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes ("The Northern Minstrel's Budget"), which he published c. 1800.

                       

SUCK(E)Y BIDS ME. See "Sukey Bids Me."

                       


SUCKEY’S DELIGHT. AKA and see “Incle and Yarico [2].” English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). G Major. Standard. AABB. Knowles (A Northern Lass), 1995; pg. 14. 

                       

SUD AR SO! AKA and see "Tit for Tat [1]."

                       

SUD MAR CHUIR MI'N GEAMHRADH THARUM. See "That's How I Spent the Winter."

                       

SUE'S JIG. Canadian, Jig. Alcazar Dance Series ALC‑201, Jerry Robichaud ‑ "Maritime Dance Party" (1978).

                       

SUGACAIS MIC FLANNCADA. AKA and see "Clancy's Frolics."

                       

SUGACAIS UI CROININ. AKA and see "Cronin's Frolics."

                       

SUGACAS UI CAIRBRE. AKA and see "Carbray's Frolics."

 

SUGACAS UI MATGAMNA. AKA and see "O'Mahoney's Frolics."

 

SUGAR BABE. Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. GDgd tuning. Rounder CD0421, Bruce Molsky - “Big Hoedown” (1997. Fiddle part from Clyde Davenport, who lives near Jamestown, Tennessee, lyrics from Fiddlin’ John Carson’s 1929 “Whatcha Gonna Do When the Licker Runs Out”). Reed Island Rounders - “Wolves in the Woods” (1997).

                       

SUGAR BARREL. See the related tune "Pretty Little Girl with the Blue Dress On."

 

SUGAR BETTY/BETSY ANN. AKA and see "Pretty Polly Ann(a) [2]." Old‑Time, Breakdown. A Major. AEae tuning. AABB. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 125.

X:1

T:Sugar Betty Ann

M:2/4

L:1/8

R:Breakdown

N:AEae tuning—retune, then finger as if in standard tuning

S:Ford – Traditional Music in America (1940)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:A

[D/A/][D/B/]|[Dc>][DB] [D/c/][D/B/][D/A/][D/B/]|[D/c/][D/B/][D/A/]E/ [G,D][D/A/][D/B/]|[D/c/][D/B/][D/A/]E/ [G,D][B,D]|

[G,/D/][DA][D/B/] [DA][D/A/][D/B/]|[D/c/>][DB] [D/c/][D/B/][D/A/][D/B/]|[D/c/][D/B/][D/A/]E/ [G,2D2]|

[G,/D/]B,/[G,/D/]E/ [G,/D][D/A/][D/B/]|[D/c/][D/A/][D/B/][D/c/] [DA]::[Ae][A/e/]f/ [A/e/]c/[D/A/]c/|[A/e/]f/[A/e/]c/ [A2e2]|

[A/e][A/e/]f/ [A/e/]c/[D/A/]B/|[D/c/][D/A/][D/B/][D/c/] [DA]|[Ae][A/e/]f/ [A/e/]c/[D/A/]c/|[A/e/]f/[A/e/]c/ [A2e2]|

[Ae](f/g/) .a[A.e]|[D/c/][D/A/][D/B/][D/c/] [DA]:|

                       

SUGAR CREEK. Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA, West Virginia. In the repertoire of West Virginia fiddler Mose Coffman.

                       

SUGAR FOOT RAG. Old-Time, Breakdown. Composed by Jazz/Country guitarist Hank “Sugar Foot” Garland, the tune was a hit for him in 1950. According to Kerry Blech, the melody was in the repertoire of North Carolina fiddler Tommy Jarrell, who played it in his own, older, style (and who maintained, mistakenly in this case, that he had obtained his repertoire before the advent of radio).

                       

SUGAR HILL. AKA and see "Sailing on the Ocean." Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia. D Major. ADae tuning. AABB. There are various thoughts about the origin of the title. Davidson (notes to Folkways 2477) thought it probably referred to drunken binges during “sugaring-off”, or the process of heating collected sap to make maple sugar. Another observation is that the song has African‑American roots and 'Sugar hill' is said to signify the 'wild part of town', the red-light district. Mike Yates (2002) reports that “Sugar Hill” is “believed to have been composed by George Washington Dixon some time prior to 1827,” a version of which was published in New York in 1855 in Christy’s Negro Songster, a collection of Minstrel songs. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954, and the tune is sometimes found in that region under the title “Bunker Hill.” The tune has come to be identified with Galax, Va., style string bands and it has also been described as a classic Surrey County, North Carolina, number. The association with the area is probably due in part to the fact that the first commercial recordings of the tune were by Ballard Branch, Virginia,  fiddler (Davey) Crockett Ward and His Boys (1928), and, on a Brunswick 78, by Dad Crockett (1929). Yates finds it related to a Kentucky tune called “Jenny Get Around.”

***

Five cents in my pocket change, two dollars in my bill;

If I had ten dollars more I'd climb old Sugar Hill.

***

Possum sittin' on a 'simmon tree, cider's in my mill,

And if I had ten dollars more I'd climb on Sugar Hill.

***

If I hadn't no horse to ride, I'd be found a‑walkin',

Up and down old Toenail Gap, you can hear my woman talkin'.

***

Jaybird and the sparrow hawk, they had a fight together,

They took all around the briar patch, went to it down to a feather.  (all the above from Tommy Jarrell)

***

Squirrel's got a bushy tail, Possum's tail is bare,

Rabbit ain't got no tail at all, just a little old piece of hair.

***

Possum up a simmon tree, raccoon on the ground,

Raccoon says, "Hey, Possum, won't you toss them simmons down.”

***

I'm getting lonesome for my gal, I want a drink of rye.

I'm going on to Sugar Hill, or know the reason why!

***

If you want to get your eye knocked out, if you want to get your fill,

If you want to get your eye knocked out, go on to Sugar Hill.

***

The phrase ‘getting your eye knocked out’ in the last verse refers to copulation, according to fiddler Tom Paley. Banjo player Dan Tate, of Fancy Gap, Carroll County, Virginia, sang the following verses for Mike Yates in 1979:

***

Sugar Hill’s a big old hill, forty miles around;

Take my broad axe in my hand and hew the mountain down.

***

Cho: Run little Betty run, run little Betty run,

Run little Betty, poor girl, I’m bound to have some fun.

***

Missus had an old blue cow, I know the hour she was born,

Take a jaybird forty years to fly from horn to horn.

***

The Virginia Mountain Boomers (The Sweet Brothers with vocals by Ernest Stoneman) recorded a song called “Sugar Hill” (in G major), actually it is the song “Devilish Mary” with the chorus of “Sugar Hill” tacked on. Sources for notated versions: Fuzzy Mountain String Band (North Carolina) [Brody]; Tommy Jarrell (1901-1985, Toast, North Carolina), who learned it from his father, Ben Jarrell, fiddler with DaCosta Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters in the early 20th century [Jack Tuttle/Fiddler Magazine]. Fiddler Magazine, Spring 1995; pg. 28. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 303‑304. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 269. Biograph 6003, "The Original Bogtrotters." Copper Creek CCCD 0193, Bill and Libby Hicks – “South of Nowhere.” County 534, "Round the Heart of Old Galax, vol. II." County 2702, Tommy Jarrell & Fred Cockerham - "Tommy and Fred." Folkways 31109, Tommy Jarrell – “Been Riding with Old Mosby” (1986). Heritage 054, The Roan Mountain Hilltoppers ‑ "Brandywine '83: Music of French America" (1984). Heritage Records, “June Apple, Old Time Fiddling & Clawhammer Banjo, Tommy Jarrell, Kyle Creed, Audine Lineberry & Bobby Patterson” (1972). June Appal 0067, Roan Mountain Hilltoppers - "Seedtime on the Cumberland" (1992). Merimac 9000, Dan Gellert & Shoofly ‑ "Forked Deer" (1986. Learned from Fields Ward "and elsewhere," slightly different than Tommy Jarrell's version). Musical Traditions MTCD321-2, Dan Tate – “Far in the Mountains, vols. 1 & 2” (2002). Rounder 0035, Fuzzy Mountain String Band‑ "Summer Oaks and Porch" (1973. Learned from Tommy Jarrell). Rounder CD 0371, Mac Benford and the Woodshed All-Stars - “Willow” (1996). Smithsonian Folkways SFW 40193, Tommy Jarrell – “Classic Old Time Fiddle” (2007. Reissue recordings). String (Topic) 802, “Emmett W. Lundy: Fiddle Tunes from Grayson County, Virginia; Recorded in Galax for the Library of Congress, 1941” (1977).

See also listing at:

Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources 

X:1

T:Sugar Hill

M:2/4

L:1/8

S:Kuntz – Ragged but Right

K:D

a>g fd/e/|fe d(a|a)a/b/ a/f/d|B>A Ba|a3 g|f/d/e/c/ d(d|d)d/B/ AA/B/|d>B d2:|

dd f>e|f/d/e d(d|d)d/e/ f/e/d|B>A B(d|d)d f>e|f/d/e/c/ d(d|d)d/B/ AA/B/|d>B d2:|

X:2

T:Sugar Hill

M:C|

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Brad Leftwich

N:From a transcription by John Lamancusa, by permission http://www.mne.psu.edu/lamancusa/tunes.htm

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:D

“D”(a2|:a)bag fede|fd”A”ec d2”D”(a2|a)bag fedc|”G7”B2 Bd B2”D”(a2|a)bag fede|

fd”A”ec “D”d3e|fedc “G”BABc|1 “D”d4 d2(a2:|2 “D”d4 d2 Bc||: “D”dcBc d3c|

dfec d2 Bc|dcde fe d2|”G7”B3c B2 Bc|”D”dcBc d2 ge|fdBc d2 ge|fedc BABc|1

d4 d2Bc:|2 d4 d4|| 

                       

SUGAR HOUSE. American, Hornpipe. F Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Stacy Phillips notes this is a new title for an old tune. Source for notated version: New Hampshire Fiddlers' Union [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 226.

                       

SUGAR IN MY COFFEE(-O). AKA – “I Like Sugar in my Coffee-O.” Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas. G Major. Standard tuning tuning. AB (Silberberg, Thede): ABAB’ (Ruth). The tune is sometimes played in the key of ‘A’. Bayard (1981) thinks there is a relationship between his Pennsylvania‑collected sets of "Up Jumped Jinny With Her Shirt Tail Torn" and this tune. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. The following rhyme was collected with the tune in Oklahoma:   

***

Go there once and go no more,

If they don't give no sugar in my coffee‑o;

How in the world's the old folk know,

That I'll take sugar in my coffee‑o.

***

Sugar's high and sugar's low,

But I'll take sugar in my coffee‑o;

How in the hell's the old folk know,

That I'll take sugar in my coffee‑o. (Thede)

***

I went there, but I'll go no mo'

I didn't get sugar in my coffee, oh.

The wind blew high, the wind blew low,

The wind blew sugar in my coffee-o.

***

African-American collector Thomas Talley, in his book Negro Folk Rhymes (reprinted 1991, edited by Charles Wolfe), prints a song called “Sugar in Coffee” that is related to this song, and predates white recorded versions such as Tennessee’s Uncle Dave Macon’s (“She Wouldn’t Give Me Sugar in My Coffee”) and Georgia’s Fiddlin’ John Carson’s (“Little More Sugar in My Coffee”). Talleys version goes:
***

Sheep’s in de meader a-mowin’ o’ de hay,

De Honey’s in de bee-gum, so dey all say;

My head’s up an’ I’se boun’ to go,

Who’ll take sugar in de coffee-o?  (Similar to Uncle Dave Macon’s lyric)

***

I’se de prettiest liddle gal in de county-o,

My mammy an’ daddy, dey bofe say so.

I looks in de glass, it don’t say, “No”;

So I’ll take sugar in de coffee-o.  (Close to John Carson’s lyric)

***

Sources for notated versions: Ed Thomas (Dewey County, Oklahoma) [Thede]; Mel Durham [Silberberg]. Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 77, pg. 28. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; pg. 152. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 106. Global Village C‑302, Midnight Cowtippers ‑ "New York City's Annual String Band Contest ‑ November 1984."

X:1

T:I Like Sugar in My Coffee

M:2/4

L:1/8

S:Viola “Mom” Ruth – Pioneer Western Folk Tunes (1948)

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

DG B/c/B/G/|AB c2|DG B/c/B/G/|BA G2|DG B/c/B/G/|AB c2|

DG B/c/B/G/|BA G2||ed B/B/d/d/|ef g2|ed B/B/G/G/|BA A2|

ed B/B/d/d/|ef g2|ed B/B/G/G/|AG G2||

DG B/c/B/G/|AB c2|DG B/c/B/G/|BA G2|DG B/c/B/G/|AB c2|

DG B/c/B/G/|BA G2||

ed B/B/d/d/|ef g2|ed B/c/B/G/|

BA A2|ed B/c/B/d/|ef g2|ed D/E/G/B/|AG G2||

                       


SUGAR IN THE GOURD [1]. Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA; Virginia, West Virginia, North Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri. G Major (Brody, Perlman, Reiner & Anick): A Major (Frets, Silberberg). Standard tuning. AB (Silberberg): AABB (Brody, Perlman, Reiner & Anick): AA'BB'C (Frets). There are several “Sugar in the Gourd” tunes, related and unrelated. This version of “Sugar in the Gourd” is melodically related to "Turkey in the Straw," and historically predates it, the words having been printed in the 1830's (Charles Wolfe). It was mentioned in an account authored by William Byrne describing a chance encounter with West Virginia fiddler ‘Old Sol’ Nelson during a fishing trip on the Elk River. The year was around 1880, and Sol, whom Byrne said was famous for his playing “throughout the Elk Valley from Clay Courthouse to Sutton as…the Fiddler of the Wilderness,” had brought out his fiddle after supper to entertain the company on a hunting trip (Milnes, 1999).

***

There are a few explanations of the meaning of the title. Formerly it has been thought that ‘sugar in the gourd' might refer to a practice of hanging sugar-filled vegetable gourds around a dance floor—to ease the friction for dancers sugar would periodically be thrown on those sections of the floor where the traffic was the heaviest.  Another explanation, not mutually exclusive, is that ‘sugar in the gourd’ is a euphemism for completed coitis—in other words, depositing sperm into a womb is putting ‘sugar in the gourd’.

***

“Sugar in the Gourd” is one of the tunes fiddlers would play to vie with each other in some older fiddle contests; the best version of  “Sugar” and a few other 'universally' known tunes won the fiddler the prize, as, for example, was documented in 1899 in an account of a Gallatin, Tenn., contest (Charles Wolfe, The Devils Box, Vol. 14, No. 4, 12/1/80). Similarly, the name of the title appears in the lists of tunes played by fiddlers at the Berea, Kentucky, fiddlers’ gatherings in the second decade of the 20th century, and a version was played in the 1919 Berea fiddle contest. The melody was played by Rock Ridge, Alabama, fiddlers around 1920 (Bailey). The Clarke County (Alabama) Democrat of May 9, 1929, described it as one of the "popular old‑time tunes" that would assuredly be "rendered in the most approved fashion" at a fiddlers' contest in Grove Hill, while the Northwest Alabamian of August 29, 1929, listed it as one of the tunes likely to be played at an upcoming convention in its area (Cauthen, 1990). The title appears in a list of traditional Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. Ken Perlman (1996) writes that this American southern tune was in circulation on Canada’s Prince Edward island in the pre-radio 1920's, although how it got there is a mystery. His P.E.I. collected version is similar to one printed by Reiner & Anick, from the playing of Georgia fiddler John Carson who recorded the melody in 1924, and it seems possible that this recording was obtained by an unknown P.E.I. fiddler who learned the tune from it.

***

Well I'm goin' down the road and I met her on a board,

And the wind from her shoes knocked Sugar in the Gourd;

Sugar in the Gourd and the gourd upon the ground,

Well you wanna get to sugar got to break it all around.

***

Refrain

Sugar in the Gourd and you can't get it out,

When you wanna get to sugar got to break it all about.

***

I had a little hen who had a wooden leg,

That's the best hen that ever laid an egg;

Laid more eggs than he had around the farm,

And another drink of liquor wouldn't do you any harm.

***

I went down in the old clay field,

Blacksnake grabbed me by the heel;

I turned around to do my best,

And drove my head in a hornet's nest.

***

Went to the church want to climb the steeple,

Looked right down upon them people;

Some looked black and some looked blacker,

And some looked the color of a plug of tobaccer.  (Kuntz)

***

I met her on the road and I laid her on a board,

Tune up the fiddle give her Sugar in the Gourd.

***

Sugar in the Gourd and I can't get it out,

The way get sugar out, roll the gourd about.  (Carson)

***

Sources for notated versions: John McCutcheon and Kahle Brewer [Kuntz]; Alan Block [Phillips]; Fiddlin’ John Carson (north Georgia) [Reiner & Anick]; Sidney Baglole (b. 1912, Freetown, West Prince County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]; Carthy Sisco [Silberberg]. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 269. Frets Magazine, "Byron Berline: The Fiddle," October 1987; pg. 64. Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; pg. 301‑302. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; pg. 64. Phillips (Fiddlecase Tunebook), 1989; pg. 41. Reiner & Anick (Old Time Fiddling Across America), 1989; pg. 108. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; pg. 153. Briar 0798, Earl Collins‑ "That's Earl." Carryon Records 002, "Ace Weems and the Fat Meat Boys." County 745, John Ashby‑ "Down on Ashby's Farm." County 507, Kahle Brewer and Stoneman's Dixie Mountaineers ‑ "Old‑Time Fiddle Classics." Front Hall 021, John McCutcheon‑ "Barefoot Boy With Boots On" (1981. Learned from Uncle Charlie Osborne, Russell County, Va.). Gennett 6483 (78 RPM), 1928, Tweedy Brothers (three W.Va. brothers, Henry, Charles, and George, who played twin fiddles and piano). Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Pete McMahon - "Kansas City Rag." OKeh 7003 (78 RPM), Fiddlin John Carson {1924}. Rounder 1003, Fiddlin' John Carson‑ "The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's Going to Crow." Rounder 1005, Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers‑ "Hear These New Southern Fiddle and Guitar Records." Rounder CD 7014, Sidney Baglole– “Fiddlers of Western Prince Edward Island” (1997. Baglole claimed to have leaned it from fiddlers in his community before the days of broadcasting).Sugar Hill 3750, Byron Berline & John Hickman ‑ "Double Trouble." Victor 19449 {1924} and Edison {1925} (78 RPM's), Fiddlin' Cowan Powers 1877‑1952? (Russell County, S.W. Va.). Voyager VRCD 344, Howard Marshall & John Williams – “Fiddling Missouri” (1999. An ‘A’ major version).

X:1

T:Sugar in the Gourd [1]

L:1/8

M:2/4

S:Kuntz – Ragged but Right

K:A

|:A|c/B/c/d/ ee|c/ec/ e(e|f/)e/f/g/ a/b/a/f/|e/f/e/c/ e(g|a)a/b/ a/f/e/f/|g/f/e/d/ c/A/F/A/|

c/B/A/F/ E/F/A/B/|c/A/B/c/ A:|

|:A|c/B/A/F/ E/F/A/B/|c/B/c/d/ c/B/A/F/|c/B/A/F/ E/F/A/B/|c/A/B/c/ A:|

 

SUGAR IN THE GOURD [2]. The tune is closely related to the Irish hornpipe tune "The Poor Old Woman" (An tSeanbhean Bhocht). Bruce and Emmett (The Drummer's and Fifer's Guide), 1880; pg. 57.

 

SUGAR IN THE GOURD [3]. American, Reel. USA, southwestern Pa. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB'. The title is a floating one. Bayard (1981) points out that his untitled "Square Dance" (No. 537, pg. 477) is a 6/8 time version of this tune, illustrating an aspect of folk process by which fiddlers will recast existing tunes to make other ones. Source for notated version: William Wright (Greene County, Pa., 1930's) [Bayard]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 355, pg. 354.

 

SUGAR IN THE GOURD [4]. AKA and see "Turkey in the Staw." The title is, of course a floater; in this case a local southwestern Pa. name for "Turkey in the Straw."

 

SUGAR IN THE GOURD [5]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, West Virginia. A cross-tuned, ‘crooked’ (irregular metre), melody from the playing of Edden Hammons of Pocahontas County, W.Va. Compare with John Salyer’s “Give the Fiddler a Dram [5].” West Virginia University Press, “The Edden Hammons Collection, Vol. 2” (2000).

 

SUGAR IN THE GOURD [6]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; North Carolina, Kentucky. G Major. Standard or GDgd (Clyde Davenport) tunings. AABB. Not related to any other tune by that name. Jeff Titon (2001) suggests the call-and-response structure of this tune suggests African-American origins. Soures for notated versions: Marcus Martin (Ararat, North Carolina) [Molsky]; Clyde Davenport (Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky, 1990) [Titon]. Titon (Old Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 157, pg. 182. Rounder 18964-1518-2, Various Artists – “American Fiddle Tunes” (a reissue of the 1971 Library of Congress LP of field recordings).

X:1

T:Sugar in the Gourd [6]

M:C|

L:1/8

S:Bruce Molsky, from Marcus Martin’s recording

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:G

g2 ga gded|e g2 a [d3g3]A|[G,2G2][G,2G2] AGE(G|G)AGE D3z|g2 ga gded|

e g2 a [d3g3]A|[G,2G2] AB (3dBA GB|dBAF G2 G2:|

|:[G,E][G,2G2]A BAGA|B d2 d e2g2|[G,2G2][G,2G2] AGE(G|G)AGE D2D2|

EFGA BAGA|B d2 d e2g2|[G,2G2] AB (3dBA GB|dBAF G2 G2:|

Variation: 1st measure

gaba (3bag ed|

 

SUGAR IN THE GOURD [7]. American; March or Reel. F Major. Standard. AABB. Howe includes the tune in a section of marches and quicksteps. Howe (1000 Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; pg. 47.

X:1

T:Sugar in the Gourd [7]

M:2/4

L:1/8

R:March

S:Howe – 1000 Jigs and Reels

Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion

K:F

(A/c/) | (d/c/).c/.c/ cA/c/ | (d/c/).c/.c/ ca/g/ | (g/f/)(f/e/) (e/d/)(d/c/) | (c/B/).B/.B/ B(G/B/) |

(c/B/).B/.B/ B(G/B/) | (c/B/).B/.B/ B(g/f/) | (f/e/)(e/d/) (d/c/)(c/B/) | .B/.A/.A/.A/ A :|

|: (c/A/) | B/c/d/B/ G/A/B/G/ | A/B/c/A/ F/A/c/A/ | B/c/d/B/ G/A/B/G/ |

A/B/c/A/ EC | (F/E/)(G/F/) (A/G/)(B/A/) | (c/B/)(d/c/) ed/f/ | c/d/B/G/ A/c/B/G/ | (G/F/).F/.F/ .F2 :|

 

SUGAR IN THE MORNING. Old-Time, Breakdown. Kerry Blech heard the tune from Rector Hicks, an Akron Ohio fiddler originally from central West Virginia. The melody is very similar to the tune "Banjo Tramp,” and Rector said he had it from influential W.Va./eastern Ky. fiddler Ed Haley, who called it "Sugar in the Morning." Blech reports that no tune by this title appears to have been recorded by Haley either commercially or on home discs.

 


SUGAR TREE STOMP. Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA, Tenn. G Major. Standard tuning. AA'B. Named for the tiny community of Sugar Tree, Tenn., southwest of Dickson City, Dickson County, it was composed by Arthur Smith and recorded by him in 1936. On the notes to County 736 Kenny Baker says: "Sugar Tree Stomp, that's from Arthur Smith. Now I'll tell you what, you know, Arthur was one of the world's greatest fiddlers, in my mind, but I didn't play it like Arthur played it.  I heard a little different way of going about playing it, not that I thought I could rearrange it and make the tune better; it's just what I heard and I wanted to record it that way.” Source for notated version: Kenny Baker [Phillips]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 138. County 546‑547, "Fiddlin Arthur Smith and His Dixieliners" (1978). County 773, John Ashby (1915-1979, northern Virginia) and the Free State Ramblers - “Fiddling by the Hearth.” County 2705, Kenny Baker - "Master Fiddler."

 

SUGAR VALLEY. Old‑Time. One of the standard tunes in a square dance fiddler's repertoire, as listed by A.B. Moore in his History of Alabama, 1934 (Cauthen, 1990).

 

SUGARCANDY. Scottish, Reel. C Major. Standard tuning. AABB. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune in Robert Bremner's 1757 collection (pg. 91). The tune appears on the same page with “New Christmas,” and perhaps Bremner meant to associate the titles. Bremner (Scots Reels), c. 1757; pg. 91.

X:1

T:Sugarcandy

M:C

L:1/8

R:Reel

S:Bremner – Scots Reels (c. 1757)   pg. 91

Z:AK/