Annotation:Devil's Waltz
DEVIL'S WALTZ. AKA and see "Drunken Hiccups (1)," "Jack of Diamonds (3)," "Rye Whiskey (1)." Canadian,Waltz (3/4 time). Canada, Manitoba. A Major. AEac# ('calico') tuning (fiddle). AA'B. "Devil's Waltz" is a Métis version of the tune widespread in America usually known as "Drunken Hiccups (1)," "Rye Whiskey (1)," or "Jack of Diamonds (3)," with its characteristic pizzicato notes and AEac# fiddle tuning. Fiddler and researcher Anne Lederman, who interviewed and collected the tune from Métis fiddler Grandy Fagnan in the mid-1980's explains that the AEac# and AEae tunings in Canadian Métis communities were reputed to be associated with the Devil, and that fiddlers who employed them took a chance. Anne writes:
Laurence Flett of [the Métis community of] Ebb and Flow says his grandfather used to tell him “Don’t play those things. . . If you ever play them, he said, the devil will walk in and take the fiddle off you, and maybe you’ll never, ever play a tune again.[1]
