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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=Paddy Whack.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Paddy Whack.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=Paddy Whack.png
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=Paddy Whack
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Paddy_Whack_(1)
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
 |f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/user-933296793 Palanca70]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes= Paddy whack. H. De Marsan, Publisher. 60 Chatham Street, N. Y.
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=Di du mack whack, {{break}}
+|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.
-And where are ye from?{{break}}
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
-The town of Ballyhack {{break}}
-Where seven praties weight a ton.{{break}}
-|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/user-933296793/paddy-whack Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Paddy_Whack_(1) | '''Paddy Whack''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-This popular tune has been often published from the later 18th century on in both fiddle and fife collections; some later publications have called it "Paddy O'Whack." The title is from a song by the same name, the chorus of which goes:
+Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).
-<blockquote>
-''Di du mack whack, ''<br>
+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.
-''And where are ye from?''<br>
-''The town of Ballyhack ''<br>
+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.
-''Where seven praties weight a ton.''<br>
-</blockquote>
+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.
-Several other songs have been set to the air, including “[[Villikins and His Dinah]]” and the American “[[Sweet Betsy from Pike]].” County Cork cleric, uilleann piper and collector [[wikipedia:James_Goodman_(musicologist)]] entered the tune into his mid-19th century music manuscript collection (vol. 3, p. 73) as "Pig under the Pot", perhaps an air instead of a jig. He also entered a five-part setting of the tune in Book 4 (p. 155) of his collection as "Paddy Whack."
-<br>
+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.
-<br>
-John Glen (1891) finds the earliest Scottish printing of it in Robert Ross's 1780 collection (p. 7). It appears in English collections before that date, however: '''Rutherford's Compleat Collection of 200 of the Most Celebrated Country Dances''' (c. 1756), Longman, Lukey and Broderip’s '''Bride’s Favourite Collection of 200 Select Country Dances, Cotillions''' (London, 1776), Straight and Skillern’s '''Two Hundred and Four Favourite Country Dances, vol. 1''' (London, 1775), and Charles and Samuel Thompson’s '''Compleat Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 3''' (London, 1773). After appearing in these country dance volumes, “Paddy Whack” was often printed in instrumental tutors such as Longman and Broderip’s '''Entire New and Compleat Instructions for the Fife''' (London, c. 1780), Thomas Skillern’s '''Compleat Instructions for the Fife''' (London, c. 1780), Charles and Samuel Thompson’s '''Compleat Tutor for the Fife''' (London, c. 1770 and1786), Thompson’s '''Compleat Tutor for the Hautboy''' (London, 1790), Wilson’s '''Pocket Preceptor for the Fife''' (London, 1805), Northumbrian piper Peacock’s '''Favorite Collection of Tunes with Variations''' (Newcastle, 1805), and Clementi’s '''Entire New and Compleat Instructions for the Fife''' (London, c 1815), and, in America, Joshua Cushing’s '''Fifer’s Companion No. 1''' (Salem, Mass., 1805), David Hazeltine’s '''Instructor in Martial Music''' (Exeter, N.H., c. 1810), and Gilford’s '''Gentleman’s Pocket Companion for the Flute or Violin''' (New York, c. 1802).
+"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."
-<br>
-<br>
-It is similarly well-represented in musicians’ manuscript collections of the period.  In England, “Paddy Whack” appears in numerous musicians' manuscripts, particularly from the north of the country, including the William Clarke copybook (Lincoln, c. 1770), John Rook collection (Waverton, Cumbria, 1840), Joseph Kershaw copybook (Saddleworth, c. 1820's-30's), John Moore collection (Tyneside, 1841), Rev. R. Harrison collection (Temple Sowerby, Cumbria, c. 1815), and others.
 }}