Annotation:Old Catville Quadrille

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OLD CATVILLE QUADRILLE. Paul Gifford notes the first change of this quadrille is a variant of the tune known as "Whalen's Breakdown" (in 2/4 time) and the first strain of "Bride of the Wind(s)" (in jig time). Musicologist Paul Gifford says [1] the tune is "almost universal" to Michigan fiddlers in both 2/4 and 6/8 time versions, although no one name appears to have held command. He doubts claims for a Canadian provenance (as in "Bride of the Winds," credited to Jim Macgill by Jarman & Co., 1951), and instead believes it was once a tune in wide dissemination. He calls it simply "6/8 in C."

"Old Catville Quadrille" was recorded by 'Colonel' John A. Pattee [2] [3] (1844-1924) for Columbia in 1923--"Catville" was the former name of Pattee's hometown, New Boston, Michigan. Pattee was a Civil War veteran, having served with the 24th Michigan Infantry Regiment and been posted to a gun battery for the Iron Brigade through many of the war's most vicious battles. Although he never attained the rank of 'colonel' (a self-promotion for the stage), he was instrumental in forming a vaudeville act in 1904 called the Old Soldiers Fiddlers, in which two Southern and two Northern fiddlers played their regional music, and, in reconciliation, played together (with handshakes). He also broadcast on radio WEAF until his death.

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See also listing at:
Hear Pattee's recording at Michigan Fiddlers [4]
See notes and examples from "Paul Gifford's Collection of Old-Time Fiddling, Duclimer playing, and Songs from Michigan and the Great Lakes Region" [5]