Boatsman (2)

BOAT(S)MAN [2]. AKA and see "Sailing Down the River on the O-hi-o," "Ohio River," "Boatman Dance." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA; W.Va., Pa. A Major (Krassen, Phillips): D Major (Johnson): G Major (Spandaro). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBC: ABCC (Johnson): AABBCC (Phillips). The fiddle tune is derived from the minstrel piece credited to Dan Emmett called "De Boatmen Dance" or "Dance, Boatman, Dance;" the tune (words below), according to some accounts, was first heard in performance in Boston in 1843. Emmett published it in that year, advertising it as "An Original Banjo Melody." The tune appears in many American and even English songsters of the 19th and early 20th centuries; Scott (1926) prints it as "Sung by the Ethiopian Serenaders." Both Nathan and Cauthen (1990) assert the melody was in folk currency before the minstrel era, and that it made its way back to folk currency in the fiddle tradition after popularization by minstrels; this is probably true, for it was in print (as "Ohio River") in George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels, volume IV (Baltimore, 1839) -- associated with Ohio River boatmen -- before it was played on the minstrel stage. See also "Boatman's Dance" for version of the tune in the morris dance tradition and "Little Rabbit" for a related old-time version.

Boatsman (2) Click on the tune title to see or modify Boatsman (2)'s annotations. If the link is red you can create them using the form provided.Browse Properties <br/>Special:Browse/:Boatsman (2) Query the Archive
Theme code Index
Also known as	Sailing Down the River on the O-hi-o, Ohio River, Boatman Dance.
Composer/Core Source
Region	United States
Genre/Style	Old-Time
Meter/Rhythm	Air/Lament/Listening Piece, Polka
Key/Tonic of	A
Accidental	3 sharps
Mode	Ionian (Major)
Time signature	2/4
History	USA/Upland South"USA/Upland South" is not in the list (IRELAND(Munster), IRELAND(Connaught), IRELAND(Leinster), IRELAND(Ulster), SCOTLAND(Argyll and Bute), SCOTLAND(Perth and Kinross), SCOTLAND(Dumfries and Galloway), SCOTLAND(South Ayrshire), SCOTLAND(North East), SCOTLAND(Highland), ...) of allowed values for the "Has historical geographical allegiances" property.
Structure	AABBCC
Editor/Compiler	Biography:Miles Krassen
Book/Manuscript title	Book:Appalachian Fiddle
Tune and/or Page number	p. 69
Year of publication/Date of MS	1973
Artist
Title of recording
Record label/Catalogue nr.
Year recorded
Media
Score ()

The Boatsman dance, the Boatsman sing, The Boatsman do most everything. And when the Boatsman get on shore, Spends all his money and he work for more. Cho: Dance, Boatsman, dance. Dance, Boatsman, dance,
Stay out all night, 'til the broad daylight,
Coming home with the girls in the morning.
Hey, ho, the boatmen row,
Sail down the river on the Ohio.
Hey, ho, the Boatmen row,
Sail down the river on the Ohio.

Well, I never saw a pretty girl in my life,
But what she'd been some boatsman's wife.
When the Boatsman blows his horn,
Look out, men, your daughter's gone! (Johnson)

The boatmen whistle and the boatmen sing,
And the boatmen tell me some good thing.
Way, oh, boatmen row,
Sailing down the river on the O-hi-o. (Bayard)

Sources for notated versions: Debbie McClatchey (Spandaro), George Strosnider (an elderly Greene County, Pa., when collected in the 1930's) [Bayard]; Melvin Wine [Silberberg]. Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981; No. 21, pgs. 25-26 (appears as "Sailing Down the River on the O-hi-o").

Printed sources: Johnson (The Kitchen Musician: Occasional Collection of Old-Timey Fiddle Tunes for Hammer Dulcimer, Fiddle, etc), No. 2, 1988 (revised 2003); p. 3. Krassen (Appalachian Fiddle), 1973; p. 69 (appears as "Boatsman"). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 32. Scott (English Song Book), 1926; p. 78. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 14. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; p. 28.

Recorded souces: Folk-Legacy FSI-38, "Sara Grey with Ed Trickett" (1970). Kanawha Records 307, Frank George - "Traditional Music for Banjo, Fiddle, and Bagpipes." Rounder CD0262, Mike Seeger - "Fresh Oldtime String Band Music" (1988). Rounder CD 0382, Marvin Gaster - "Uncle Henry's Favorites." Rounder 1133, Ed Haley vol. 2 - "Grey Eagle".

REPLACE THIS LINES WITH THE ABC CODE FOR THIS TUNE