Annotation:Gray Eagle (1)
Tune properties and standard notation
GRAY EAGLE [1]. AKA and see "Grey Eagle," "Old Gray Eagle." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Oklahoma, Missouri. A Major. AEae tuning (fiddle). AABB. The title "Gray Eagle" in the American context refers to several melodies, some related and some not. Cecil Snow's "Old Grey Eagle" is a close variant of Thede's tune, collected from Oklahoma fiddler Bill Evans (who associated it with an improbable story about and eagle and a tomcat getting into a fight while airborne). Cecil Snow was also born in Oklahoma as well, but lived in various parts of the country before settling in Arkansas. In general, "Gray Eagle" is a popular tune and has been frequently played at mid-western fiddle contests. A tune whose title was spelled this way was recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph from Ozark Mountain fiddlers in the early 1940's. Drew Beisswenger (2008) notes that Missouri Ozark region fiddler Bill Graves plays a similar tune called "Fort Gibson."
Source for notated version: Bill Evans (Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma) [Thede].
Printed sources: Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; p. 137.
Recorded sources: