Annotation:Old Yeller Dog

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OLD YELLER DOG (COME TROTTIN' THROUGH THE MEETING HOUSE). AKA and see "Old Grey Mare," "Old Blind Dog." Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major (usually): F Major. Standard or FCfc (Rayna Gellert) tuning (fiddle). AABB. Rayna Gellert plays this tune in F, cross-tuned, although she notes that it is normally played in standard tuning in the key of G. See also Earl Johnson's "Old Grey Mare Kicking Out of the Wilderness." Source Charlie Acuff had the tune from his grandfather, also named Charlie Acuff, from whom the young Charlie learned to fiddle.

The presence of dogs in a house of worship may seem incongruous to many, but the practice was not rare at one time, particularly in the South. South Carolina minister Charles Woodmason found it necessary to bar his congregation from bringing their animals with them to church in the late 18th century. Not only were they troublesome, he explained, they were also "an affront to the Divine Presence...to mix unclean things with our service." Yet, the population was only imitating longstanding practice in England.

Source for notated version: Charlie Acuff [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 176.

Recorded sources:

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