Annotation:Camp Chase (2)
Tune properties and standard notation
CAMP CHASE [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. A Major. AEae, DGdg (Harvey Sampson) or Standard tunings (fiddle). AABB. No relation to version #1. The tune and attached story are popular among fiddlers in the central West Virginia area. The legend has been related by several writers (with slight variations) but most versions begin at the point that Solly "Devil Sol" Carpenter (fiddler French Carpenter's grandfather and himself one of the most influential fiddlers in West Virginia history) has been imprisoned during the Civil War at a Union prison in Camp Chase, located near the west side of Columbus, Ohio, where the present-day Fort Hayes is situated. Little remains of the prison camp save for a cemetery on West Sullivan Ave., and a small stone retaining wall on West Broad Street, Columbus.
Camp Chase, Ohio
Near view of Camp Chase Prison. Picture in possession of Ohio State University Library.
The story goes that while Solly was incarcerated the commandant held a fiddler's contest to give the best player a chance to fiddle his way to freedom, or, as some versions go, to win a reprieve from a death sentence. Devil Sol, a man named Bowie and others played and apparently all the fiddlers played the same tune. Solly won by adding some unusual new notes to the tune according to his fancy (or perhaps, as one writer suggests, in desperation). West Virginia fiddler Wilson Douglas, a protégé of French Carpenter, relates "There was quite a few who played in the contest; but Saul put these two high notes in. That tune, he called it 'Camp Chase.' It was some kind of a tune before but they hadn't named it yet. And when he got out of there he called it 'Camp Chase,' and it's gone by that name ever since." Although Sol gained his freedom in the contest he had to sign a parole, pledging not to take up arms against the Union; as the story goes, he ignored this and headed south to join another Confederate unit.
Alan Jabbour notes a similarity between one of the versions of "Camp Chase" and "George Booker (1)," and suspects it may be the latter that was played in the contest; the name "Camp Chase" may then have been applied to the tune by W.Va. fiddlers who were familiar with the legend and Solly's Carpenter's music (Bill Hicks {1972}; Krassen {1983}). "George Booker" seems related, notes Jabbour, to the 18th century Scottish strathspey "The Marquis of Huntl(e)y's Farewell."
It will be noted that there are similar such legends in British Isles and other traditions in which a fiddler tries to play his way to freedom (or plays a masterpiece just before he is executed). Perhaps the oldest, and certainly one of the most famous, is the myth of the Greek harper Orpheus, who played his way out of Hades. See also the tunes "MacPherson's Lament," "Last of Callahan," "Callahan" and the Cajun "Guilbeau's Waltz" and "Valse a Napoleon [1]" which have similar tales attached.
Source for notated version: French Carpenter (W.Va.) [Krassen]; Bruce Molsky [Phillips].
Printed sources: Krassen (Masters of Old Time Fiddling), 1983; pp 58-59. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; p. 44.
Recorded sources: Augusta Heritage Recordings AHR-004C, Harvey Sampson and the Big Possum String Band - "Flat Foot in the Ashes" (1986/1994. Learned by Calhoun County, W.Va., fiddler Harvey Sampson, probably from one of the Carpenter family). Burning Wolf 001, Reed Island Rounders - "Wolves in the Wood." PearlMae Muisc 004-2, Jim Taylor - "The Civil War Collection" (1996. Learned from Gerry Milnes, who had it from Emery Bailey, Calhoun County, W.Va.). See also listing in Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: A Guide to Recorded Sources [1].