Annotation:Oyster River Reel (The)

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OYSTER RIVER (REEL), THE. AKA - "Oyster River," "Oyster River Hornpipe." American, Irish; Reel or Hornpipe. G Major (Cole, Kerr, Phillips, Songer): G Major {'A' and 'B' parts} & D Major {'C' part} (Ford, Sweet). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Cole, Kerr, Phillips, Songer, Sweet): AABCC (Ford). The tune is identified as an "Irish Reel" in Kerr's Merry Melodies vol. 1 (c. 1880's), although it is clearly a polka and not a reel. It appears under the American title "Oyster River" set as a hornpipe in William Bradbury Ryan's Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883), perhaps referring to Oyster River, New Hampshire (based on its earliest printing in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, a volume that contains many northern New England placenames). The hamlet of Oyster River Plantation was the scene of a devastating massacre during King William's War in 1694. Abenaki Indians, incensed at abuses from the English population and encouraged by the French, killed and captured nearly 100 settlers, one third of the population. While the "Oyster River" title seems to predate other names it may perhaps be of American origin, although this does not preclude an earlier version (so far unsurfaced) with an Irish provenance.

See also the cognate first strain of "Church Street Polka (1)," "Gurteen Cross," and "St. Mary's."

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 105. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; p. 76 (appears as "Oyster River"). Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1), c. 1880’s; p. 41. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2), 1995; p. 214. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 142. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 154. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1965/1981; p. 51. White's Unique Collection, 1896; No. 129, p. 23.

Recorded sources: Marimac 9012, Fish Family Dance Band - "Fluke Hits" (1987). North Star Records NS0038, "The Village Green: Dance Music of Old Sturbridge Village."

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