Annotation:Cluck Old Hen (3)
X:1 T:Cluck Old Hen [3] M:2/4 L:1/8 S:Walter Neal (southwestern Pa., 1952) K:G (3D/E/F/|GG Bd|c/A/B/G/ A/G/F/D/|GG Bd| e/g/f/a/ gz/ (3D/E/F/|GG Bd|c/A/B/G/ A/G/F/D/|GG Bd|e/c/A/F/ G|| z|gb/g/ a/f/d/f/|e/f/g/e/ d/B/G/z/|gb/f/ a/f/d/z/|e/g/f/a/ gz| gb/g/ a/f/d/f/|e/f/g/e/ d/c/B/A/|GG Bd|e/g/f/a/ g||
CLUCK OLD HEN [3]. AKA and see "Old Aunt Katie (2)." American, Reel. USA, southwestern Pa. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AB. In this case the "Cluck Old Hen" title is a floating one, attached to a piece of Scottish origin usually called in southwestern Pa. "Old Aunt Katie." It was collected in the region with a rhyme not dissimilar to the usual "Cluck Old Hen" ditties:
Cluck old hen, cluck right along;
Cluck old hen, till your chickens rolls on;
Cluck old hen, and I don't give a damn--
I can git a woman if you can git a man. (Bayard)
The melody (in song and dance airs), finds Samuel Bayard (1981), is descended from the Scots tunes "Marquis of Hastings' Strathspey," "Lord Moira/Lord Moira's Welcome" and "Loudon's Bonnie Woods and Braes." See also Frank Roche's Irish-collected fling "Bonnie Scotland (1)."
