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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=Fishers_Hornpipe.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Fishers Hornpipe.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=GAINSBOROUGH,_Thomas_-_Johann_Christian_Fischer_(1780).jpg
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=Fisher's Hornpipe
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Fisher's Hornpipe
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
 |f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/user-707619939 Bruno Bruzzese]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes=Portrait of J.C.Fischer (1733-1800) painted by Thomas Gainsborough, 1780 (Royal Collection).
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=Charles Wolfe, among others, believes it was originally a classical composition by German composer Johann Christian Fischer (1733-1800), a friend of Mozart's and composer of the once-popular Fischer's Minuet.
+|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/user-707619939/fishers-hornpipe Soundcloud]
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Fisher's Hornpipe | '''Fisher's Hornpipe''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-"Fisher's Hornpipe" is one of the most popular, widespread and frequently published fiddle tunes in the world. On the subject of the title, several writers have posited various speculations on who the 'Fisher' might have been.
+Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).
-Charles Wolfe, among others, believes it was originally a classical composition by German composer Johann Christian Fischer (1733-1800), a friend of Mozart's and composer of the once-popular '''Fischer's Minuet'''. Indeed, some early publication use the spelling Fischer's Hornpipe.
+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.
-Samuel Bayard (1981) noted that the tune dates to latter-18th century England where it was composed by "J. Fishar" and was "published in 1780" (Most of the local southwestern Pennsylvania alternate titles Bayard gives, appearing above, are "floaters").
+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.
-Scholars Van Cleef and Keller (1980) identify the composer as one James A. Fishar [ed. probably John Abraham Fisher], a dancer, musical director and ballet master at Covent Garden during the 1770's, and note it is included as "Hornpipe #1" in J. Fishar's (presumably James A. Fishar's) '''Sixteen Cotillons Sixteen Minuets Twelve Allemands and Twelve Hornpipes''' (John Rutherford, London, 1778).
+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.
-It has also been attributed to "18th century English fiddle player J.W. Fisher" [Callaghan, 2007]. A few years later the melody appeared in England under the title [[Lord Howe's Hornpipe]] in Longman and Broderip's '''5th Selection of the Most Admired Dances, Reels, Minuets and Cotillions''' (London, c. 1784), and in Scotland in Neil Stewart's '''Select Collection''' (1784) as [[West's Hornpipe (2)]].
+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.
-Scottish fiddler-composer and bandleader Alexander "King" McGlashan printed it about the same time in his '''Collection of Scots Measures''' (c. 1780, p. 34) under the title "Danc'd by Aldridge," a reference to the famous stage dancer and pantomimist Robert Aldridge, a popular performer in the 1760's and 1770's. See also early versions of the tune under the title [[Blanchard's Hornpipe (2)]].  The hornpipe appears in a number of 19th century English musicians' copybooks as [[Egg Hornpipe]].
+"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."
 }}