Annotation:Walls of Jericho (1)

Back to Walls of Jericho (1)

---

WALLS OF JERICHO [1]. Old Time, Listening Piece (3/4 time). USA; southwestern Va., western North Carolina. A Major. AEac# tuning (fiddle). AABB'. According to Tom Carter and Blanton Owen (1976) the sections of the tune were considered by source fiddler Munsey Gaultney ( b. 1906) [1] to represent scenes from Joshua's struggle at the walls of Jericho. Gaultney's piece has broad similarties to "Jack of Diamonds," although it is a different tune. Sam McNiel of the Floyd County Ramblers also had a piece by this title; a similar, but distinct tune.

Munsey Gaultney, photo by Mark V. Sanderford

A tune by this name was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from the playing of Ozarks Mountains fiddlers in the early 1940's. Arkansas fiddler Violet Hensley’s family played a tune called “Jericho” in the same cross-tuning, and Mark Wilson suggests both are versions of a common ancestor.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Rounder 0057, Sam MacNiel (Pilot, Montgomery County, Va.) "Old Originals, vol. 1" (1978. Learned from influential Franklin County, Va. fiddler Fountain Kingrea). Rounder 0058, Munsey Gaultney (Va., originally from Ashe County, N.C.) "Old Originals, vol. 2" (1978).

See also listing at:
Hear Muncey Gaulney's recording at Slippery Hill [2]

---