Annotation:Sally Growler: Difference between revisions

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X:1 % T:Sally Growler M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Hornpipe S:Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:G (3d/e/f/ | .g.f.e.d |{d}c/B/c/e/ d/B/G/D/ | E/G/c/e/ D/G/B/d/ | ^c/b/a/f/ d/^d/e/f/ | .g.f.e.d |{d}c/B/c/e/ d/B/G/D/ | E/G/c/e/ d/B/G/A/ ||1 B/d/c/A/ G :|2 B/d/c/A/ Gz || |: g/d/B/d/ G/B/d/g/ | b/g/d/g/ B/d/g/b/ | a/f/d/f/ A/d/f/a/ | c'/a/f/d/ c/A/F/D/ | g/d/B/d/ G/B/d/g/ | b/g/d/g/ B/d/g/b/ | c'/a/f/d/ ^c/d/e/f/ |1 gbg z :|2 gbg ||

SALLY GROWLER. American, Hornpipe (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A composition credited to Harry Carleton in Ryan’s Mammoth Collection (1883). Nothing is known of the elusive Harry Carleton, who contributed several tunes to Ryan’s, and the name may be a pseudonym. A "Sally Growler" is a particularly unattractive Atlantic coast bottom-dwelling fish (also known as the Sea Raven, Toadfish, Oyster Cracker or Horsehead), so named "because of its habit of growling on occasion, like a puppy over a bone." (New York Zoological Society Bulletin, Volume 23. No. 6, 1919, p. 136). The title in Ryan's was in quotation marks, so it is possible the tune was really called after a boat or a seaport bar named for the fish.

As with several tunes from the Ryan's/Cole's collections (for decades the only large source for fiddle tunes) the hornpipe was picked up by fiddlers around the United States, particularly in Texas where it was absorbed into 20th century Texas fiddling repertoire. It occasionally surfaces in American fiddle contests.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Benny Thomasson (Texas) [Phillips].

Printed sources : - Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 114. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2), 1995; p. 223. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 151.

Recorded sources: - Rounder Records 0533, Roger Cooper - "Essence of Old Kentucky" (2006, learned from a recording by Texas fiddler Lewis Solomon). Terry Morris - "Texas Fiddling Treasures". \

See also listing at:
See/hear fiddler Vi Wickham play the tune on youtube.com [1]

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-'''SALLY GROWLER.''' American, Hornpipe (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A composition credited to Harry Carleton in '''Ryan’s Mammoth Collection''' (1883). Nothing is known of the elusive Harry Carleton, who contributed several tunes to Ryan’s, and the name may be a pseudonym. The title is in quotation marks in Ryan’s, and the meaning of the title is obscure. There is a particularly unattractive Atlantic coast bottom-dwelling fish named the Sea Raven, popularly called a “Sally Growler” ('horsehead' or 'toadfish') although what connection this might have is unknown. Don Meade believes the names of both the tune and the fish derive from another, now-obscure source. As with several tunes from the Ryan's/Cole's collections (for decades the only large source for fiddle tunes) the hornpipe was picked up by fiddlers around the United States, particularly in Texas where it was absorbed into 20th century Texas fiddling repertoire. It occasionally surfaces in American fiddle contests.
+'''SALLY GROWLER.''' American, Hornpipe (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A composition credited to Harry Carleton in '''Ryan’s Mammoth Collection''' (1883). Nothing is known of the elusive Harry Carleton, who contributed several tunes to Ryan’s, and the name may be a pseudonym. A "Sally Growler" is a particularly unattractive Atlantic coast bottom-dwelling fish (also known as the Sea Raven, Toadfish, Oyster Cracker or Horsehead), so named "because of its habit of growling on occasion, like a puppy over a bone." (New York Zoological Society Bulletin, Volume 23. No. 6, 1919, p. 136). The title in Ryan's was in quotation marks, so it is possible the tune was really called after a boat or a seaport bar named for the fish.
+As with several tunes from the Ryan's/Cole's collections (for decades the only large source for fiddle tunes) the hornpipe was picked up by fiddlers around the United States, particularly in Texas where it was absorbed into 20th century Texas fiddling repertoire. It occasionally surfaces in American fiddle contests.
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