Annotation:Richmond Cotillion (1)

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RICHMOND COTILLION. AKA and see "Green Mountain Polka," "Hanging Around the Kitchen (Till the Cook Comes Home)," "Jackson's Breakdown," “Little Boss,” "Old Richmond," "Plaza Polka," "Redman's Reel," "Richmond Polka," "Robert E. Lee Swing," "Rocky Road to Dublin [7]" (old-time version in 2/4), "Run Them Coons in the Ground," “Stonewall Jackson,” "Wait in the Kitchen (Till the Cook Comes In)." Old-Time, New England; Breakdown or Reel. USA, western North Carolina. D Major ('A' part) & A Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Silberberg): AABB (most versions): AABB’ (Songer). A story circulating in some areas has it that this tune acquired its name from being a mainstay at the debutantes’ ball called the Richmond Cotillion, though there seems to be little evidence to substantiate this. The title may have derived from “Richmond Polka” which is said to have been printed in the 1850's. It has been said by Kerry Blech and others that the tune’s original name was simply “Richmond” or “Richmond Polka” and that the ‘cotillion’ became appended by its appearance on some of the Gennett stencil labels of Da Costa Woltz’s 1920’s recording which read “Richmond” Cotillion. Blech and Gerry Milne take this to mean that the tune Richmond was a vehicle for the cotillion, an old dance form. Henry Ford’s dance orchestra recorded the tune for the dance Heel and Toe Polka, in a medley with “Jenny Lind Polka (1),” under the title “Richmond Polka.”

According to Paul Tyler, some Indiana fiddlers are reported to have called the melody by the name “Stonewall Jackson,” by which title Ashland, Kentucky, fiddler Ed Haley knew it. Indiana fiddler Lotus Dickey had two versions in his repertoire, one of which he called “Little Bess” (a title perhaps imported from Arkansas, says Tyler) The tune played by Galax fiddler Emmett Lundy called “Richmond Cotillion” is misnamed, according to Blech, although Lundy’s descendants said he did play a tune that closely resembles the Ben Jarrell (the fiddler with Da Costa Woltz) commercial recording. North Carolina banjo player and bandleader Charlie Poole recorded the tune in his 1930 session, in a medley after the tune “Honeysuckle (1)” (with Odell Smith on fiddle), although “Richmond Cotillion” does not appear on the track listing. Poole and his group also play “Richmond” at the beginning of their “Shootin’ Creek,” recorded in 1928 with fiddler Lonnie Austin. According to a Janet Kerr taped interview made with Austin (appearing as part of the Topic/Leader LP of Austin), “Richmond” (as well as “Flying Clouds”) was part of the standard repertoire around Spray, North Carolina, when Austin was growing up in the early 20th century. Austin himself learned the tunes from a prominent fiddler in the area by the name of Will Heffinger. See also the related tunes "Sally Put a Bug on Me," “Duck's Eyeball (1)," and Canadian fiddler Don Messer’s “Plaza Polka.” The similarly titled "Richmond (1)" and "Richmond (2)" are not related.

Additional notes

Source for notated version: - Tony Mates [Silberberg].

Printed sources : - Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; p. 229. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; p. 68 (listed as "Breakdown # 98"). Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; p. 116 (appears as "Redman's Reel"). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 198. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 129. Songer (Portland Collection), 1997; p. 167. Spadaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; p. 39.

Recorded sources: - Biograph 6008, Delaware Water Gap - "Fox Hollow String Band Festival." County 524, "Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters: 1927 Recordings." Mountain 310, Tommy Jarrell - "Joke on the Puppy" (1976. Learned from his father).