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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=Ask My Father Pat Wards Jig.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Pat Ward's Jig.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=Ward.jpg
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=Pat Ward's Jig
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Pat Ward's Jig
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
 |f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/oisinmcauley Oisín McAuley]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes= Pat Ward (1847-1928)
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=His first lesson in writhing music...was not unattended with difficulties. Having neither pen nor ink, he was told by his teacher, "a dark man," to burn a furze stick and write with its calcined end. This expedient served fairly well. From that day to his he says that whenever he takes a pen in his hand to write music his mind reverts to "The Flogging Reel", which was the first tune set down in the manner mentioned.
+|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/oisinmcauley/ask-my-father-pat-wards-jig Soundcloud]
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Pat Ward's Jig| '''Pat Ward's Jig''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-There is a brief biographical sketch and a photograph of Ward in Francis O'Neill's '''Irish Minstrels and Musicians''' (1913, pp. 317-319), giving his date of birth as 1847 in the Parish of Drumconrath, County Meath, remarking that he "had attained considerable command of the fiddle before commencing the practice of the Union pipes."
+Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).
-<blockquote>
+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.
-''His first lesson in writhing music...was not unattended with difficulties. Having neither pen nor ink, he was told by''
-''his teacher, "a dark man," to burn a furze stick and write with its calcined end. This expedient served fairly well.''
-''From that day to his he says that whenever he takes a pen in his hand to write music his mind reverts to''
-"[[Flogging Reel (The)]]", ''which was the first tune set down in the manner mentioned.'' <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.
-''In his repertory are many tunes seemingly peculiar to the County Louth. He had played at several Feis Ceoil and Oirachtas''
+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.
-''for the last ten years and has been awarded several prizes. At the Oireachtas in 1907 he won second prize, the first''
-''going to George McCarthy, and in 1911 he again captured second honors. Taking into consideration that Ward is not a''
+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.
-''professional piper, but a plowman since early manhood, his execution on the double changer is indeed remarkable.'' [p. 319].
-</blockquote>
+"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."
-Seamus Ennis, in liner notes to his album "The Pure Drop," remarks:
-<blockquote>
-''As a child, I remember Pat Ward. He was a native of Drogheda, an old man with a crescent shaped beard. He played a double'' ''changer--two reeds, two bores and two stop holes for each finger, as compared to the usual single piece. I would compare his'' ''tone with that of a very mellow concertina, to the best of my recollection, for I was but a child when he was tragically killed'' ''by a motor-bus near his house. My father learned this tune from him and as he had no name for it we referred to it as above at'' ''all times.  Notice that the accepted performing rhythm of the single jig is nearly identical with that of a hornpipe--a''
-'' 'common' tune simulated by the four threes of 12/8.''
-</blockquote>
 }}