Annotation:Polly put the Kettle on (2)
Back to Polly put the Kettle on (2)
POLLY PUT THE KETTLE ON [2]. AKA and see "Molly Put the Kettle On (1)," Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; east Tennessee, western N.C., north Ga. G Major (with flat 7th) {Ford}: D Major {Silberberg, Spadaro}. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABC (Silberberg): AABB (Ford, Spadaro). "Polly put the Kettle on" is a common East Tennessee tune, although it has transcended Appalachian boundaries. The reel was played by Wiley Harper (Monroe, Ga.) in an April, 1913, Atlanta, Ga. fiddlers' contest, according to the newspaper The Atlanta Journal.
Polly, put the kettle on and slice the bread and butter fine.
Slice enough for eight or nine, we'll all have tea. ... [Ford]
The tune the repertoire of western N.C. regionally influential fiddler Ernest "Osey" Helton, originally from Tennessee. The reel is sometimes compared to "Granny Will Your Dog Bite? (1)" which has a similar feel, although a different melody. See note for "annotation:Molly Put the Kettle On (1)" for more.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; p. 85 (Ford also prints the words to "Molly Put the Kettle On" on page 399). Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 119. Spadaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; p. 4.
Recorded sources: Biograph 6008, Ebenezer - "Fox Hollow String Band Festival." Folkways FTS 31062, "Ship in the Clouds: Old Time Instrumental Music" (1978). Mountain 310, Tommy Jarrell - "Joke on the Puppy" (1976. Learned from Charlie Lowe).