Annotation:Old Man and the Old Woman (1)

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OLD MAN AND THE OLD WOMAN [1], THE (Le bonne homme et la bonne femme). AKA and see "Bottom of the Punch Bowl (3) (The)," "Christmas Rum (The)," "Let's Go Rustico!" "Lumberjacks (The)," "Quebec Reel." French-Canadian, Reel. Canada; Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island. D Major (most versions): G Major (Phillips). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (Christeson) : AABB' (Messer): AA'BB' (Phillips). Sometimes confused with "Growling Old Man and Grumbling Old Woman (The)" which is very similar in parts; the two may have derived from a common ancestor. Perlman (1996) finds alternate names on Prince Edward Island in addition to the "Old Man..." title; "Christmas Rum (The)" in Queens County and "Bottom of the Punch Bowl (3) (The)" in south Kings County.

Source for notated version: Joe Politte (a resident of Old Mines, Missouri, which was an early French settlement south of St. Louis; several of his tunes were French) [Christeson]; Stephen Toole (1927-1995, Green Road, Queens County, Prince Edward Island) [Perlman]; Stuart Williams/Glenn Barry (Seattle) [Silberberg].

Printed sources: R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 2), 1984; p. 62. Messer (Way Down East), 1948; No. 31. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Styles), 1980; No. 48, p. 32. Perlman (The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island), 1996; p. 52. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 173. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 111. Songer (Portland Collection vol. 2), 2005; p. 147 (as "Old Man, Old Woman").

Recorded sources: Bee Balm 302, "The Corndrinkers." RCA Victor LCP 1001, Ned Landry and His New Brunswick Lumberjacks - "Bowing the Strings with Ned Landry."