Annotation:Big Eyed Rabbit (2)
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BIG-EYED RABBIT [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Alabama, Mississippi, western North Carolina. A Major. AEae (e.g. Tommy Jarrell, Kirk Sutphin) or Standard tuning. ABB (irregular 'A' part): AABB (Silberberg). Recorded by Quitman, Mississippi, fiddler Charles Long in 1939 in the field for the Library of Congress.
Yonder comes a rabbit,
Fast as he can run,
If I see another one,
Gonna shoot him with a double-barrel gun.
Gonna shoot him with my gun.
Yonder comes a rabbit,
Slippin' through the sand,
Shoot that rabbit, he don't care,
Fry him in my pan,
Fry him in my pan.
Chorus:
Rockin' in a weary land (x2) .... or,
Big-eyed rabbit's gone, gone (x2)
Yonder comes my darlin',
How do I know?
Know her by her bright blue eyes,
Shinein' bright like gold,
Shinein' bright like gold. (Tommy Jarrell/Plank Road String Band).
Bob Woodcock (Pa.) supplied this verse (a coney is an old English term for a rabbit-Coney Island=Rabbit Island):
Coney on the island, coney on the run,
I'll get that rabbit in my pan, I'll shoot him with my gun.
The tune, as recorded in the 1920's by the Alabama old-time duo the Stripling Brothers, shows up in some remarkable places. The Striplings' record was reissued (as were several American old-time sides) in Québec, albeit with a new title in French. In the case of "Big-Eyed Rabbit," the tune was renamed "Reel de la Malbaie (Le)." The melody was also picked up in Ireland where it was rendered as a barn dance, where, for example the famous Belfast fiddler Sean Maguire recorded it as the first tune of his "Canadian Barndance" (a Canadian Barn Dance is a type of progressive couples dance popular in Ireland and Scotland-many 2/4 tunes have been the vehicle for the dance).
Sources for notated versions: Liz Slade (Yorktown, New York) [Kuntz]; Bruce Reid [Silberberg].
Printed sources: Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 8. Spadaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; p. 38.
Recorded sources: Carryon Records 005, "The Renegades" (1993). County 401, "The Stripling Brothers." County CO-CD-2711, Kirk Sutphin - "Old Roots and New Branches" (1994). Mountain 310, Tommy Jarrell - "Joke on the Puppy" (1976. Learned brom his father.). Vocalion 5412 (78 RPM), Stripling Brothers (Ala., played in C Major) {1929}.