Annotation:Molly Put the Kettle On (1)

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MOLLY PUT THE KETTLE ON [1]. AKA- "Jenny Put the Kettle On (1)," "Polly Put the Kettle On (2)." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Virginia, Missouri. D Major (Brody, Phillips): A Dorian (O'Neill). Standard tuning (fiddle). ABB. A wide-spread and old tune in the American upland and piedmont South, into the Mid-West, and remarkably similar in most versions to the original from Britain. The title, which is variously known by either "Molly" or "Polly," comes from a British rhyme commonly found in Mother Goose and other nursery editions, and the attachment survived the transatlantic crossing. "Molly Put the Kettle On" was the name of a tune in the repertoire of fiddler and Confederate veteran Arnold A. Parrish (Willow Springs, Wake County, N.C.), as recorded by the old Raleigh News and Observer. Parrish was a contestant at fiddler's conventions held in Raleigh prior to World War I.

Georgia guitar player and singer Riley Puckett sang the following verses as a member of the north Georgia band The Skillet Lickers:

Molly put the kettle on,
Ginny blow the dinner horn,
Molly put the kettle on,
All take tea.

Swing Sal, swing Sue,
Swing that gal with the run-down shoe.

Swing ma, swing pa,
Swing that gal from Arkansas.
Take a chew of tabaccer, promenade all,
Pull that calico from the wall.

Wade Ward, of Independence, Virginia, at the end of his performance gives lines in recitative:

Head like a coffee pot,
Nose like a spout;
Handle on the other side
To pour the coffee out.

African-American fiddler Joe Thompson plays the piece in FCgd tuning. See also "Annotation:Jenny Put the Kettle On (1)."

Sources for notated versions: The Skillet Lickers (north Georgia) [Brody]; Emmett Lundy (Va.) and Joe Politte (Mo.) [Phillips].

Printed sources: Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; p. 194. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 2), 1984; No. 66, p. 46 (as "Jenny Put the Kettle On"). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; p. 154.

Recorded sources: Columbia 15380 (78 RPM), Leake County Revelers (Miss.). Columbia 15746D (78 RPM), Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers (N. Ga.). County 506, The Skillet Lickers- "Old Time Tunes" (reissue) County 529, Leake County Revellers- "Traditional Fiddle Music of Mississippi, Vol. 2" (reissue). County CD-3509, The Skillet Lickers (reissue). Document DOCD-8060, The Skillet Lickers (reissue). Folkways FA 2399, New Lost City Ramblers - "Vol. 4." Global Village C217, (Black fiddler and banjo player) Joe and Odell Thompson - "Old Time Music From the North Carolina Piedmont." Marimac AHS #3, Glen Smith - "Say Old Man" (1990. Learned from Creed Smith). Marimac 9038, Dan Gellert & Brad Leftwich - "A Moment in Time" (may be version #4). Musical Traditions MTCD321-2, Calvin Cole (et al) - "Far on the Mountain, Vols. 1&2" (2002). Rounder 0058, Haywood Blevins (southwestern Va.) - "Old Originals, Vol. II" (1978). Smithsonian Folkways SF CD 40097, Wade Ward. Victor 21518, Ernest Stoneman - "Serenade in the Mountains."

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

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