Annotation:They Swung John Brown from a Sour Apple Tree
X:1 T:They Swung John Brown from a Sour Apple Tree N:From the playing of C.W. "Charlie" Strong (Warren County, Kentucky, though originally N:from Lee County where he was born in 1899) via Bruce Greene. Strong said he N:learned the tune from his father, Alexander Strong, who said it was “brought back N:from the Civil War.” M:C| L:1/8 N:AEac# tuning (fiddle) D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/swung-john-brown-sour-apple-tree D:PearlMae Music – 004-2, Jim Taylor - "The Civil War Collection vol. 1: Traditional Southern D:Fiddle Tunes From The War Between The States" (1995) Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:A J[c3c3](B [cc]B)A-B|[c2c2][c2c2] [A,2E2] [A,E]A|[c2c2][cc]d [cc]BAF|[A,E]FAB A2A2| |:AB[cc]-[cd] ([cc]B)AB|[c2c2][c2c2] [A,2E2] [A,E]A|[c2c2][cc]d [cc]BAF|1,2[A,E]FAB A2A2:|3 [A,E]FAB A4|| A2 c2 ecce|f2 efe2 ce| fgfe cfec|BA- A2 A4| |:[c2c2][c2c2][ce]-[cc][cc][ce]|f2 [ce]-[cf][c2e2] ce| fgfe cfec|1BA- A2 A3-B:|2B2A2 A4||
THEY SWUNG JOHN BROWN FROM A SOUR APPLE TREE. American, Reel (cut time). A Major. AEac# tuning (fiddle). AAAABBB. "They Swung John Brown from a Sour Apple Tree" is from the playing of Warren County, Kentucky, fiddler C.W. "Charlie" Strong (c. 1899), who said he had learned it from his father, Alexander Strong. His father, he asserted, said that it was "brought back from the Civil War." It is an archaic sounding tune, and may predate the conflict, perhaps renamed in commemoration of the famous incident at Harper's Ferry in 1859. Alternatively, it may have been a composition inspired by the event.
Wikipedia:John_Brown_(abolitionist) (1800-1859) sought to start an insurrection that would free the slaves and gathered more than twenty followers, Black and White, to attack the Federal Arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, hoping to secure arms to further his scheme. The townspeople were alerted to the raid and took up arms themselves, forcing Brown and his followers to barricade themselves in a nearby firehouse. After two days, federal troops arrived, commanded by Robert E. Lee, and most of the combatants were killed or captured (5 got away). Brown was quickly tried for treason and murder, found guilty of all counts and was hanged on December 2, 1859, the first person executed for treason in the history of the United States. Six of his captured raiders were executed a few weeks later. Needless to say, Brown died upon a gallows constructed for the execution, and not from a sour apple tree.
