Annotation:Fiddler's Dram (1)

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FIDDLER'S DRAM. AKA - "Fiddler a Dram." AKA and see "Give the Fiddler a Dram (1)." American, Reel (cut time). USA; central West Virginia, Kentucky, northeast Alabama. G Major/Mixolydian (Spadaro): A Mixolydian (Milliner & Koken). Standard, AEae (James Crase) or DGdg (Harvey Sampson) tunings (fiddle). AAB (Milliner & Koken): AABB (Spadaro). The tune, widespread over the upland South, was a standard one in the square dance fiddler repertoire as asserted by A.B. Moore in History of Alabama (1934) {Cauthen, 1990}. Words were interchangeable with a few other song/tunes, including "Dance all Night with a Bottle in Your Hand." Kentucky fiddler James Crase, recorded by folklorist John Cohen in 1959, sang the following to the first strain of the tune:

Dance all night with a bottle in the hand,
Just before day give the fiddler a dram.
Fiddler a dram, fiddler a dram,
Way before day give the fiddler a dram.

Old Jawbone and Jinny come along,
In comes Sally with her big boots on."

Left my jawbone on the fence,
Ain't seen nothing of a jawbone since.
Old jawbone, Jinny come along,
In come Sally with her big boots on.

Four been years since I been gone,
Pretty little girl with the red dress on.
She put it off, I put it on,
In comes Sally with her big boots on.

Additional notes
Source for notated version : - James Crase (Bear Branch, Leslie County, east Kentucky) [Milliner & Koken]. Crase was recorded in the field in 1959 by John Cohen.

Printed sources : - Milliner & Koken (Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), 2011; p. 193. Spadaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; p. 42.

Recorded sources : - Augusta Heritage Recordings AHR-004C, Harvey Sampson and the Big Possum String Band – "Flat Foot in the Ashes" (1986/1994. Learned by Calhoun County, W.Va., fiddler Harvey Sampson from his father). Fantasy 24711, "The Holy Modal Rounders." Folkways SF CD 40077, James Crase – "Mountain Music of Kentucky" (1996. Originally released in 1960).

See also listing at :
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]
Hear James Crase's version at Slippery-Hill [2]

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