Annotation:Johnstown Gals
Tune properties and standard notation
JOHNSTOWN GALS. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Pennsylvania. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. See Bayard's note for "Buffalo Gals (1)." Bayard thinks this tune is derivative of "Buffalo Gals." Johnstown in a town in western Pennsylvania, the scene of a tragic flood [1] when the reservoir in the hills above the town gave way after a period of drenching rain.
Source for notated version: Mrs. Sarah Armstrong, (near) Derry, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1943 [Bayard]. Armstrong (nee Gray) came from a musical family of Scottish descent and began playing the fiddle at age five, learning many of her tunes from her Uncle Laney, the most accomplished fiddler in the family. She is the principal contributor of tunes to Bayard's Hill Country Tunes.
Printed sources: Bayard (Hill Country Tunes), 1944; No. 1B.
Recorded sources: