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Latest revision as of 16:17, 4 October 2024

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=Montrose's March.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Montrose's March.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=Graham.jpg
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=Montrose's March
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Montrose's_March
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
 |f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6dk2YghDg Ben Miller & Anita MacDonald]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes= James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose.
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=The title refers to the heroic Marquess of Montrose (1612–1650), James Graham, a 17th century Scottish aristocrat chosen by Charles I of England to quell a rebellion in Scotland, and reputedly a man who lived scrupulously and bravely.
+|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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H6dk2YghDg Youtube]
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Montrose's_March | '''Montrose's March''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-The title was published by Playford in his '''Musick's Recreation''' (1669), however, the melody earlier appeared in Playford's '''Musick's Hand-Maid''' (1663) as the generically-title "A Scotish [sic] March."  William Stenhouse, in his '''Illustrations''' to the '''Scots Musical Museum''' (p. 197), opined "the second strain contains a redundant bar which spoils the measure". It is the ancestral melody for a widespread and varied tune family found throughout Britain and Ireland, and was also imported to North America<ref>See Prof. Samuel Bayard's remarks on the tune family in '''Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife''', 1981.</ref>. One of its more famous derivatives is "[[Rock and a Wee Pickle Tow (A)]]," which appeared in Joseph Mitchell's opera '''Highland Fair; or, A Union of the Clans''' (1731), later printed in London publisher James Oswald's '''Curious Collection of Scots Tunes''' (1739). See also the distanced derivative "[[Old Woman Tossed Up in a Blanket (4)]]."
+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."
 }}