Annotation:Rabbit in the Pea Patch (1)

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RABBIT IN THE PEA PATCH [1]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; Arkansas, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC. Composed by Uncle Dave Macon who recorded it on 78 RPM in 1927. Drew Besswenger (2008) notes that the title was connected to a play party game with a “Skip to My Lou” melody. It was recorded for the Library of Congress by Herbert Halpert in 1939 from the playing of Tishomingo County, Mississippi, fiddler W.E. Claunch. “Rabbit in the Pea Patch” is a standard tune in a square dance fiddler's repertoire, asserts A.B. Moore in his History of Alabama, 1934, and lending credence to this its being recorded in the Clarke County Democrat of May 6, 1926, as a definitive old-time piece played for a contest in Jackson, Clark County, Alabama.

Get my gun, fetch old Rover,
Run that rabbit out of town.

I'm up on the hillside rakin' up hay,
Rabbit in the Pea Patch eatin' all day;
Dee-ca-dee-dee, dee-ca-dee-dee-doo,
Dee-ca-dee-dee-dee, dee-ca-dee-ca-doo.

I'm up on the hillside rakin' up leaves,
The Rabbit in the Pea Patch eatin' up all the peas.

I'm up on the hillside rakin' up grass,
The Rabbit in the Pea Patch sittin' on his ass. ....[Red Clay Ramblers, based on Uncle Dave Macon’s version]

The title is connected with a play-party game. Other early recorded versions are from Vernon Dalhart (1931) and the Pickard Family (1928). Guthrie Meade links the melody to “Grey Cat on a Tennessee Farm,” “Spotted Pony (1),” and “Snow Shoes (2).”

Source for notated version: The Red Clay Ramblers (North Carolina) [Kuntz].

Printed sources: Kuntz (Ragged but Right), 1987; p. 350.

Recorded sources: County 521, Uncle Dave Macon and the Fruit Jar Drinkers - "Original Recordings 1925-1935." Flying Fish 055, The Red Clay Ramblers - "Merchant's Lunch" (1977). Supertone (Brunswick) 2071 {78 RPM}, the Pickard Family.

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer’s Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear Uncle Dave Macon's 1927 recording on youtube.com [2]



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