Annotation:Pickerel Reel

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PICKERELL REEL. American, Reel (2/4 time). B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The tune appears in the 1904 music manuscript copybook of Clinton W. Bisbee, of West Sumner, Maine. Bisbee copied the older music manuscript of fiddler Frank Richardson, of nearby Mt. Vernon (later called Canton), Maine, which was dated Christmas Day, 1864. Clinton must have found the tunes excellent or had a committment to historical preservation; the tunes in the manuscript are indeed of high quality, consisting of what seem to be originals or local tunes, and 'warhorse' dance tunes with variation sets.

The name 'Pickerell Reel' may refer to a person named Pickerell, but probably refers to the freshwater fish named the pickerel, a member of the Northern pike family. The pickerel is a common native fish to New England swamps, ponds and lakes, thriving in sluggish, vegetated waters.

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