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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=Felton Lonnin.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Felton Lonnin.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=Felton_Old_Bridge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_334260.jpg
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=Felton Lonnin
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Felton_Lonnin
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
 |f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/the-unthanks The Unthanks]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes= Felton Old Bridge.
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=The swine came jumping down Pelton Lonnin'{{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.
-There's five black swine and never an odd one{{break}}
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
-Three i' the dyke and two i' the lonnin'{{break}}
-That's five black swine and never an odd one{{break}}
-|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/the-unthanks/felton-lonnin-album-version Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Felton_Lonnin | '''Felton Lonnin''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-The title appears in Henry Robson's list of popular Northumbrian song and dance tunes (called "The Northern Minstrel's Budget") which he published c. 1800. See "[[Joy be wi' my love]]" from the Scottish '''McFarlan manuscript''' (c. 1740) for a possible precursor. Felton is a village in Northumberland midway between Morpeth and Alnwick, while ''lonnen'' is a dialect word in the north of England for a land or road. Whelan's  '''History, Topography, and Directory of Northumberland''' (1855) states that in the mid-19th century "Felton comprises an area of 12,830 acres. Population in 1851, 1,574 souls. The soil of this parish is various but chiefly incumbent upon strong clay, and is well suited for grain crops. There are some coal seams here, but they are not much worked." The village is approximately 9 miles south of Alnwick on the River Coquet, over which a stone bridge was built, followed by a second bridge in modern times to accommodate increased traffic. It was in Felton that English barons met in 1215 to plan the transfer of their allegiance from King John to King Alexander of Scotland, a decision that greatly annoyed the former, with the result that he had the village burned down as punishment. Stokoe and Bruce remark: "There is a jingling rhyme fitted to this tune to be found in Sir Cuthbert Sharp's '''Bishoprick Garland''', but it is there entitled 'Pelton Lonnin'. Pelton is a village in County Durham located about two miles to the northwest of Chester-le-Street.
+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."
 }}