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HONEST JOHN. Canadian, American; Jig. G Major ('A' part) & D Major ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Messer, Sweet): AA'BB'BB' (Phillips). The melody appears to have wide dissemination. Bronner (1987) says the tune was commonly played in New York state around the 1870's. It was collected from American southwest musicians by educator Lloyd Shaw (1890-1958), who is credited with a revival of square dancing in the mid-20th century.
Additional notes
Source for notated version : - Vivian Williams (Seattle) [Phillips].
Printed sources : - Messer (Way Down East), 1948; No. 80. Messer (Anthology of Favorite Fiddle Tunes), 1980; No. 138, p. 89. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; p. 367. Shaw (Cowboy Dances), 1943; p. 378. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; p. 27.
See also listing at :
Hear Don Messer's recording at Ted McGraw's site [1] (preceded by "Great Eastern Reel (1)").
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