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Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).

According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life. He had worked most of his life for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Clarksburg, prior to retiring in 1972 to his home in Braxton County, West Virginia.

He was a regular visitor during his working years to his homeplace on the Elk River, and was witness to the planning and construction of the Sutton Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river during the 1950's and 1960's.

Unfortunately, this resulted in the flooding of his boyhood home and the surrounding area, despite the efforts of himself and neighbors to forestall the project through a lobbyist. He refused the government's initial offer for his land (they didn't offer him anything for his house), and took the case to court.

He was able to gain a marked increase in the money he eventually was paid through this process, although he had to pay legal fees out of his pocket. He stayed in his Elk River homestead while the dam was being constructed, even though most of his neighbors had already left. Workmen blocked the roads in and out of the area, but Carpenter found alternate routes until they too were closed off.

"I was the last person out of there," he said," I went ahead then and tore the old place town and brought it up here. Part of its in this house." Of the tune, he remarked: "I was sittin' here one day, an' I had the blues. I reckon as bad as anybody could, thinkin' about my old homeplace up on the Elk River. I started sawin' on the fiddle an' that's what I came up with."

...more at: Elk River Blues - full Score(s) and Annotations

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{SheetMusic
-|f_track=Cuckolds All in a Row.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Cuckolds All In A Row.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=Cuckold.jpg
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=Cuckolds All in a Row
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Cuckolds All in a Row
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
 |f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/erasmustalbot-music Erasmus Talbot]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes=François Bunel, Actors of the Commedia Dell'Arte (c. 1590s).
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=As with many Playford country dance tunes, the melody was also saw service as vehicle for a ballad, registered in the Stationer's Register on June, 9, 1637, with words that are now lost but which began: "Not long ago, as all alone I lay upon my bed..." It was used as a party tune by the Cavaliers, according to Chappell (1859), who states that they sang the words of "Hey, boys, up go we" and "London's true character" to the tune.
+|f_caption=According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life.
-|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/erasmustalbot-music/cuckolds-all-in-a-row Soundcloud]
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Cuckolds All in a Row | '''Cuckolds All in a Row''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-The latter song heaped abuse on the citizens of that town for siding against the King in the civil wars, and began "You coward-hearted citizens..."; it is printed in '''Rats rhimed to Death; or, The Rump Parliament hanged in the Shambles''' (1660) and in both editions of '''Loyal Songs written against the Rump Parliament'''. "Culcolds All a Row" is mentioned in the older song "O London in a fine town." Cuckoldry was frequently the topic of comic productions and ordinary jests in the early decades of the 17th century. Keith Whitlock ("John Playford's The English Dancing Master 1650/1 as Cultural Politics", '''Folk Music Journal''', vol. 7, No. 5, 1999)  suggests this stemmed from the annulment by King James VI/I of the marriage between the Earl of Essex and Lady Frances Howard, which resulted in a famous scandal and murder. The two principals were both barely out of puberty when they were wed in a political union, but quckly separated before the marriage could be consummated. Essex was sent abroad on an extended tour, and meanwhile Frances had found a new love in the 1st Earl of Somerset.  When he returned they spurned one another, each decrying the incompatibility of the other; Frances's virginity was physically checked by committee, but a stand-in may have actually been examined. Sir Thomas Overbury, a close friend and advisor of Somerset, had tried to advise Somerset of the unsuitability of Frances, but the Howard family was anxious to see them wed, if only they could free her of her previous commitment to Essex. They were able to maneuver Overbury into disfavor with the King and he was imprisoned and then poisoned, allegedly by Frances and Somerset. This removed the last obstacle to Frances and Somerset and they were married, but the crime was revealed and the couple sent to the Tower of London.  She was found guilty in a subsequent trail but spared execution, and was eventually pardoned by the King and released in early 1622.  Cuckolds became the subject of ridicule in period broadside ballads and masquerades.
+Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).
+According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life. He had worked most of his life for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Clarksburg, prior to retiring in 1972 to his home in Braxton County, West Virginia.
+He was a regular visitor during his working years to his homeplace on the Elk River, and was witness to the planning and construction of the Sutton Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river during the 1950's and 1960's.
+Unfortunately, this resulted in the flooding of his boyhood home and the surrounding area, despite the efforts of himself and neighbors to forestall the project through a lobbyist. He refused the government's initial offer for his land (they didn't offer him anything for his house), and took the case to court.
+He was able to gain a marked increase in the money he eventually was paid through this process, although he had to pay legal fees out of his pocket. He stayed in his Elk River homestead while the dam was being constructed, even though most of his neighbors had already left.  Workmen blocked the roads in and out of the area, but Carpenter found alternate routes until they too were closed off.
+"I was the last person out of there," he said," I went ahead then and tore the old place town and brought it up here. Part of its in this house." Of the tune, he remarked: "I was sittin' here one day, an' I had the blues. I reckon as bad as anybody could, thinkin' about my old homeplace up on the Elk River. I started sawin' on the fiddle an' that's what I came up with."
 }}