Fiddling during the War

[Pappy]

Hey, any fiddlers out there?
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have couple of questions...

1: The popular Irish tunes that are played today (Garry Owen, I know this is about Custer and the 7th), Irish washerwoman, McMichen's Reel, Whiskey in the Jar, are these Civil War period songs?

2: What songs did they play? For instance, Arkansas Traveler, Leather Britches, Lorena, Soldier's Joy? I can play a couple of these and would like to learn more, but were do I find the sheet music or tabs to play them? I've been playing fiddle for about 7 months now and seem to be drawn to the Old-Time tunes. I also do reenacting so I would like to play a few of these around the camp fire...

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Pappy

[Faugh-A-Ballagh61]

Hey,

Im not much of a fiddler but I think I can add some input...
I know Garryowen is a period song...however, the original lyrics to Garryowen were lost to history years before the war, many new lyrics were written during the Civil War...but it was mostly just an instumental song. Whiskey in the Jar is also a period song and very popular among Irishmen. Im pretty sure McMichen's Reel was around at the time but im not 100% sure...same goes for Irish Washerwoman.

-Good Luck
_______________

[JKfifer119]

Hey, any fiddlers out there?
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have couple of questions...

1: The popular Irish tunes that are played today (Garry Owen, I know this is about Custer and the 7th), Irish washerwoman, McMichen's Reel, Whiskey in the Jar, are these Civil War period songs?

2: What songs did they play? For instance, Arkansas Traveler, Leather Britches, Lorena, Soldier's Joy? I can play a couple of these and would like to learn more, but were do I find the sheet music or tabs to play them? I've been playing fiddle for about 7 months now and seem to be drawn to the Old-Time tunes. I also do reenacting so I would like to play a few of these around the camp fire...

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Pappy



Oh my goodness. Garryowen has a long history and was used by a number of regiments long before the 7th Cav started using it.

check this out

http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/GAMB_GAY.htm

scroll down the page to the entry about "garryowen" a ton of info about the tune

j korber

[joewhitney]

If your goal is to only play tunes that would typically have been heard during the war, you have to be careful with old-timey and folk music. Much of it was composed after the war, McMichen's Reel, for example:

McMICHEN'S REEL. AKA and see "Hog Trough Reel." Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA, Kentucky. G Major. Composed by or named after influential north Georgia fiddler Clayton McMichen, a one‑time member of the Skillet Lickers who later became a Nashville master with other groups, as a session musician, and on his own. Sources for notated versions: Doc Roberts (Ky.) [Phillips]; Bruce Reid [Silberberg]. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; pg. 151. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; pg. 98. Global Village C‑302, Plywood String Band ‑ "New York City's 1st Annual String Band Contest ‑ November 1984." Heritage XXXIII, Fiddlin' Doc Roberts (Ky.) ‑ "Visits" (1981).

As Joe K. noted, Ceolas' Fiddler's Companion is the best online source for tune information in general. The best period source for tunes was Elias Howe's Musician's Omnibus, Vols. 1 & 2, which I don't think anyone is repopping today.

A good, but postwar, overall source for fiddle music you can buy today would probably be Ryan's Mammoth Collection of Fiddle Tunes, which you can get from Mel Bay or Amamzon. It was actually published by Elias Howe in 1883 (repackaged and reprinted in the 1940's as Cole's 1000 Fiddle Tunes) and even contains bowing instructions on tunes.

Arkansas Traveler was popular long before the war, during it as well, and is still widely recognized by the public today. As for Soldier's Joy, it was popular in both the 18th and 19th centuries. It would have been very commonly played. Lorena is often cited as the most popular song among Confederate soldiers. Leather Britches/Breeches is the American name of an old and still popular Celtic tune, Lord McDonald's Reel.

Joe Whitney
2nd SC String Band
Md Line Field Music

[Pappy]

Thanks for the help Joe. I just bought your band's CD "Southern Soldier" and it is awsome!

I thought of another tune: "Rosin the Bow". I like this tune, it's snappy and and good tune to dance a jig (this is what my friends tell me anyway).

I was reading some other posts, specifically on how to set-up your fiddle for the 19th century, and was wondering what kind of bows were used. I have a Brazilwood and 2 fiberglass bows, but would any of these be appropriate? Most of the time when my group plays at reenactments is after the public leaves so our instruments are not period correct. I don't have a period correct case, I use a shoulder rest and a chin rest. Could I play with all this during the day when the public is about? Any suggestions would be most helpful.

Greg Papierz
2nd Ky Vol Artillery

[markj]

If anybody is interested, I'll send them some scans from my fiddler image collection. I also just picked up another guitarist cdv, so I'll tack that on as well. I'd post these items to the forum, but I'm having some technical problems right now.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger
markj@purdue.edu

[Nathan Dodds]

If anybody is interested, I'll send them some scans from my fiddler image collection. I also just picked up another guitarist cdv, so I'll tack that on as well. I'd post these items to the forum, but I'm having some technical problems right now.


YES! Please do! I have a very hard time finding fiddler pictures.

Nathan Dodds

[markj]

Alas, I can't post them to the forum due to some technical problems. However, contact me privately and I'll fulfill your wildest fantasies.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger
markj@purdue.edu

[L. E. Prillaman]

hey there. i am an old time fiddler and i have some advice. you DO want to learn the tunes everyone knows but also in my personal opinion, it is a lot of fun to add tunes nobody hears at events. I am from WV and so a lot of the tunes I play have roots there. Shakin' Off The Acorns, Jimmy Johnson, Shelvin' Rock, and many many others. Berea College in Kentucky has an online audio archive that is out of this world. I will post the link at the end of this post. You can search fiddle tunes, banjo tunes, shape note singing, ballads, and there is TONS of audio stuff. A lot is recordings of true old timers playing like Melvin Wine or Lester McCumbers and others. In a lot of cases it tells what tunings they are in etc. Happy hunting! I spend hours on the site.

http://www.berea.edu/hutchinslibrary/specialcollections/default.asp

Lars Prillaman

[amity]

Some traditional tunes documented to pre-civil war Texas include Money Musk, Soldier's Joy, Bonaparte's Retreat, and Will You Come to the Bower (also called The Invitation), Long, Long Ago (known to shapenote singers as When I Am Gone), A Soldier's Tear, The Three Ravens (tune to When Johnny Comes Marching Home), Arkansas Traveler, the Pateroller Song (I have never heard this as song, and have no idea what the words were), and The Marseillaise and Yankee Doodle.

Some others I suspect can be easily enough documented include Over the Waterfall (also called Eggs and Marrow Bones), St. Anne's Reel, Sally Gooden, Nancy Rowland, and Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine. Researching specifically where these were played would be helpful.

Players can learn in the authentic period way ... by ear!

BTW, in case it may help someone, I was delighted to find some few of the tunes mentioned on that list, like Money Musk:
http://www.sls.hawaii.edu/bley-vroman/contra/dances/musk.html
in primary sources myself. Others I found by searching indexes for a few Texas and regional historical journals, like Southwest Quarterly, etc. There were also several books on different aspects of Texas historical music to consult. It seems this field has been pretty well plowed and specific info is not hard to come by in university libraries.

Here's Over the Waterfall, probably my favorite tradtional tune:
http://traditionaltunes.tripod.com/overthewaterfall.mp3

[Rev]

From what I understand, and that is oral tradition, the Eighth of January is an old Irish tune that was adapted after Jackson's victory in New Orleans, 1815. So, I gues it would have been around. It is also a rip to play!

[Devilishmary]

Alas, I can't post them to the forum due to some technical problems. However, contact me privately and I'll fulfill your wildest fantasies.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger
markj@purdue.edu

I just sent an email to you. Please send pictures
Thank you!!