Annotation:Camp Run

Shelt Carpenter in a the dugout canoe he hand-made, on the Elk River c. 1930

CAMP RUN. American, Reel (cut time). USA; Braxton County, W.Va. G Major: A Major. DGdg or AEae tuning (fiddle). Not the original title for the tune. Learned by Ernie Carpenter from his father, fiddler Shelton "Shelt" Carpenter (1862-1937), of Sutton, Braxton County, West Virginia, an outdoorsman, fishing guide, fiddler, and mountain philospher of note. He was a popular guide for the professional class of doctors and lawyers from Charleston, who brought him to their fishing camps where tutored them in fishing on the Elk River and showed them the best fishing spots. He also entertained with tall tales and played music, and shared their whiskey. He had a good sense of humor, if self-deprecating:

It’s just my luck that if it was raining soup, I’d have a fork instead of a spoon.

In the old days we did everything by hand-power and awkwardness.

They say that money talks, but all it ever said to me was goodbye.

I’ve been as lucky as a one-legged man at an ass-kicking.

Additional notes

Recorded sources : - Augusta Heritage Records 003, Ernie Carpenter - "Elk River Blues: Traditional Tunes From Braxton County, W.Va" (1986).

See also listing at :
Hear a 1987 field recording of Ernie Carpenter and Gerald Milnes playing the tune at Berea Sound Archives [1]

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