Annotation:Grey Eagle (1)

Back to Grey Eagle (1)

---

GREY EAGLE [1]. AKA and see "Gray Eagle." AKA - "Grey Eagle Hornpipe." Old-Time, Bluegrass, Texas Style; Breakdown, Hornpipe. USA; Alabama, Mississippi, southwestern Va., southwestern Pa., western N.C., eastern Tenn., Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona. A Major (most versions): G Major (Bayard, W.E. Claunch): C Major (uncommon, but known in the western N.C./ eastern Tenn. area in this key). Standard or AEae tuning (fiddle). AB (Bayard, Silberberg): AABB (Brody, Krassen, Phillips): AA'BB (Shumway): AABBCC (Christeson): AA'BB'CC'D (Frets Magazine). "One of the standard square dance tunes in the key of A Major" (Krassen, 1973), and, in fact it is one of the more commonly played fiddle tunes at mid-western fiddle contests. Versions and variants abound in tradition, so that the title is sometimes qualified with the name of the source to differentiate it from other "Grey Eagle's." Several writers have noted the similarity between "Grey Eagle" and the Scottish tune "Miller of Drone (1) (The)," with the "Grey Eagle" melody probably derivative. There are many different sets of this tune collected from folk sources in almost all parts of the South and West; in addition it has made its way into numerous commercial collections, among the first of which is George H. Coes' Album of Music (Boston, 1876). It was one of the older tunes in fiddle repertory in Patrick County, southwest Va., before such tunes were supplanted by tunes more conducive to the fiddle/clawhammer banjo combination -- the tune may also have been called "Ducks on the Pond" (??) (Tom Carter & Blanton Owen, 1976). Bayard (1981) is surprised at the tenacity of the title in the face of so many disperate versions.

The melody is popular with Kentucky fiddlers, remarks Charles Wolfe (1982), who first suggested it was possibly named for the famous Kentucky race horse of 1839. John Hartford ("The Devil's Box") found that the "Grey Eagle" title for the melody known as "Miller of Drone (1) (The)" became attached to the tune in America following this famous late 1830's race between horses known as "Grey Eagle" and "Wagner." The race has been documented and took place in the Oakland Racetrack in Louisville in 1838. Soon afterwards a tune folio celebrating both racehorses appeared (a copy of which is in the possession of the Center for Popular Music at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro) with both "Wagner" and "Grey Eagle" as well as the now-obscure "Oakland Racetrack." In fact, the ancestral melody "Miller of Drone (1) (The)" melody gave rise to a tune called "Gray Eagle Cotillons" by William C. Peters, published in 1840, named for the horse in the race in Louisville.

"Grey Eagle" was in the repertoire (C Major version) of legendary fiddler J. Dedrick Harris, a Tenn. born fiddler who played regularly with Bob Taylor when the latter ran for Governor of the state in the late 1800's. Harris moved to western N.C. in the 1920's and influenced a generation of fiddlers there, including Osey Helton, Manco Sneed, Bill Hensley, and Marcus Martin. In the Deep South the melody was in the repertory of Alabama fiddler D. Dix Hollis (1861-1927), who considered it one of "the good old tunes of long ago" (as quoted in the Opelika Daily News of April 17, 1926) {Cauthen, 1990}, and was recorded for the Library of Congress in 1939 by Guntown, Mississippi, fiddler W.E. Claunch. It was also one of the tunes listed in the Troy Herald of July 6th, 1926, as having been played at a fiddlers' convention held at the Pike County, Alabama, fairgrounds. It is on Missouri fiddler Charlie Walden's list of '100 essential Missouri fiddle tunes'. Mark Wilson reports that a surprising number of fiddlers in the Ozarks and Midwest were aware that "Grey Eagle" and "Wagonner" were tune titles associated with racehorses. He suggests that, since he did not find eastern Kentucky fiddlers shared this knowledge, the tune gained currency in the Midwest, and from there entered tradition in regions to the east. Part of the tune the same as "Ostinelli's Reel" (Cole). Arizona fiddler (and Mormon) Kenner C. Kartchner maintained the tune was played by Mormon fiddlers crossing the plains. "First Month of Summer" and "Sugar Grove Blues" may also be cognate melodies.

Early sound recordings of "Grey Eagle" are of the playing of J.Dedrick Harris (1924), Roland Cauley & Lake Howard (1934), and by north Georgia fiddler Lowe Stokes (1929), albeit the latter's version was released under the title "Katy Did."

Source for notated version: Kenny Baker [Brody]; Floyd Smith (Cole County, Missouri) [Christeson]; Charlie Higgins (Galax, Va.) [Krassen]; Kenner C. Kartchner (Arizona) [Shumway]; William Shape (elderly fiddler from Greene County, Pa., 1930's) [Bayard]; Byron Berline learned the tune from his father who had it from his friend Frank Mitchell (Enid, Oklahoma) [Frets Magazine]; Jeff Goehring with the Red Mules (Ohio) [Phillips]; Greg Canote (Seattle) [Silberberg]; Howard Forrester, Robert Rutland & Herman Johnson [Phillips/1995]; Ike Helton (1907-1983, Maries County, Missouri) [Beisswenger & McCann].

Printed sources: Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 103, p. 60. Beisswenger & McCann (Ozark Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 189. Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 127. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; p. 12. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; p. 86. Frets Magazine, "Byron Berline: The Fiddle," February 1981; p. 52. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; p. 73. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; p. 106 (breakdown versions). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; p. 197 (hornpipe version). Shumway (Frontier Fiddler), 1990; p. 268. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 57. Christeson says the tune also appears in Harding's All-Around Collection of Jigs and Reels (1905, New York) and in 1935 in 100 WLS Barn Dance Favorites (Chicago). See "Grey Eagle (2)".

Recorded sources: Briar 0798, Earl Collins- "That's Earl." County 202, "Eck Robertson: Famous Cowboy Fiddler." County 703, Bartow Riley- "Texas Hoedown." County 705, Sonny Miller- "Virginia Breakdown." County 722, Joe Greene- "Joe Greene's Fiddle Album." County 744, Kenny Baker- "Dry and Dusty." Document 5167, The Booker Brothers. Gennett Records (78 RPM), Taylor's Kentucky Boys (1927. Featuring the only black hoedown fiddler to record commerically, Jim Booker). Global Village C-302, Chicken Chokers - "New York City's 1st Annual String Band Contest - 1984." June Appal 007, Thomas Hunter- "Deep in Tradition" (1976. Learned from his grandfather, fiddler James W. Hunter of Madison County, N.C.). MGM E4035, Howdy Forrester - "Fancy Fiddlin' Country Style." Missouri Old Time Fiddlers Association 002, Taylor McBaine (b. 1911) - "Boone County Fiddler." Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers' Association, Dwight Lamb (b. 1934) - "Old Ladies Pickin' Chickens." Morning Star 45003, Taylor's Kentucky Boys - "Wink the Other Eye: Old-Time Fiddle Band Music from Kentucky" (1980. Originally recorded in 1927). Rounder 0068, Mark O'Conner- "Pickin' in the Wind." Rounder 0099, Dan Crary - "Lady's Fancy." Rounder 0100, Byron Berline- "Dad's Favorites." Rounder 0194, John W. Summers - "Indiana Fiddler" (1984). Rounder 0213, The Chicken Chokers - "Chokers and Flies" (1985). Rounder 0215, James Bryan - "The First of May" (1985). Rounder 1133, Ed Haley vol 2 - "Grey Eagle". Vocalion 14839 (78 RPM), Uncle Am Stuart, 1924, (b. 1856, Morristown, Tenn.). Voyager 309, Benny & Jerry Thomasson - "The Weiser Reunion" (1993). Voyager VRCD 344, Howard Marshall & John Williams - "Fiddling Missouri" (1999). Warner Brothers 42468, The Booker Brothers. In the repertoire of Western N.C. fiddler Osey Helton (C Major version). 5 String Productions 5SP05002, The Hoover Uprights - "Known for their Reputation" (2005. Based on the playing of fiddler Flick Flaharty or York County, Pennsylvania).

See also listings at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]

---