Annotation:Lantern in the Ditch

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LANTERN IN THE DITCH. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABCC (Christeson): AABB'CC' (Beisswenger & McCann). "Lantern in the Ditch" is one of '100 essential Missouri tunes' listed by Missouri fiddler Charlie Walden. The melody was also in the repertoire of Dwight Lamb (western Iowa). Howard Marshall (writing to the newsgroup FIDDLE-L) states that source Bob Walters had the tune from Casey Jones, and that Casey's father, John Henry Jones, composed the melody in the late 1920's. Marshall's source for this information is Leana Hughes, one of Jones's daughters, who explained that Casey and she were walking home with their father from a dance at night, with a lantern to light the way. Somehow the lantern was dropped into a ditch, extinguishing it, and they had to travel the rest of the way in the dark. John composed a tune soon afterwards, giving it the title to commemorate the incident.

Source for notated version: Bob Walters (Burt County, Nebraska) [Christeson]; Cyril Stinnett (Oregon, Mo.), who probably learned it from Bob Walters [Phillips]; Dean Johnston (1919-2007, Lamar, Barton County, Mo.), learned from Cyril Stinnett [Beisswenger & McCann].

Printed sources: Beisswenger & McCann (Ozarks Fiddle Music), 2008; p. 76. R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; p. 53. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), 1994; p. 136.

Recorded sources: Rounder 0320, Bob Carlin & John Hartford - "The Fun of Open Discussion." Rounder 0436, Dean Johnston - "Traditional Fiddle Music of the Ozarks, vol. 2: On the Springfield Plain" (2000. Various artists).

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

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