Annotation:Crockett's Honeymoon

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CROCKETT'S HONEYMOON. AKA - "George Ainley's Tune." AKA and see "Honeymoon Reel (1)," "Maid Who Left the Mountains (The)." Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Songer): AA'BB' (Phillips). The name "Crockett's Honeymoon" (or, sometimes, "Crockett's Wedding") appears to have originated in the 1970's, attached (perhaps by George Ainley) to an untitled tune contained in a medley on a 1920's recording by Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers. The alternate title "George Ainley's Tune" comes from the recording by the Fat Meat Boys. A similar American tune is "Maid Who Left the Mountains (The)," which may be the original ancestor to these variants. It has a similar title to the Irish reel called "Maid Who Left the County (1) (The)," which itself has a cognate tune entitled "Honeymoon Reel (2) (The)". "Honeymoon Reel (1)", a close variant of the Irish "Honeymoon Reel (2) (The)" was printed as long ago as 1883 in the Boston, Massachusetts, publication Ryan's Mammoth Collection. The "Maid" and "Honeymoon" titles thus appear to weave in and out of each other in both Irish and American tradition.

Source for notated version: Ruthie Dornfeld (Seattle, Washington) [Phillips]; Ron Andrico (Portland, Oregon) [Songer].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol 1, 1994; p. 62. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 56.

Recorded sources: Brunswick 291 (78 RPM), Crockett's Kentucky Mountaineers - "Medley of Old Time Dance Tunes." Rounder CD 0397, Scott Nygaard - "Dreamer's Waltz" (1996). Varrick VR-038, Yankee Ingenuity - "Heatin' Up the Hall" (1989).