Annotation:Nigger in the Wood Pile (1)
X:1 T:N..... in de Wood Pile [1] M:2/4 L:1/8 R:'Straight' Jig S:Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:D {^G}A | z/A/F/D/ ED | z/d/f/d/ e/d/z/{c}d/ | z/A/F/D/ ED/F/ | G/>B/A/>F/ D {^G}A | z/A/F/D/ ED | z/d/f/d/ e/d/z/{c}d/ | z/A/F/D/ ED/F/ | G/>B/A/>F/ D :| |: (3A/B/c/ | defg | f/B/~B f/B/~B | def^g | a/>e/f/>d/ c/>e/A | defg | f/B/~B f/B/~B | (a/>.b/)(g/>.a/) (f/>.g/)(e/>.c/) |1 (d/>.f/)(e/>.d/) c/A/ :|2 (d/>.B/)(A/>.G/) F/D/ ||
'N.....[1] IN/ON THE WOODPILE [1]. AKA and see "Wood Pile Jig," "Cotton Patch," "Nigger in the Cotton Patch." AKA - "The Woodpile Tune." American, "Jig" (2/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Cole): AABB' (Kerr). The tune has been credited to American black-face minstrel Dan Emmett, Boston, 1845 (in Keith's Flute Instruction Book, Boston, 1847), although the tune is unattributed in Ryan's Mammoth Collection (1883, which does include many attributed Emmett compositions). It may be an African-American tune to which Emmett's name became attached to, as a prime exponent of the racial and cultural mixing that was minstrelsy. The melody is categorized as a 'jig' in Ryan's and Kerr's publications, meaning not the familiar 6/8 time Irish jig, but rather a type of duple-metre 19th century banjo tune perhaps associated with a type of dancing or, derogatorily, with African-Americans. The genre was also referred to as a 'straight' or 'sand' jig, the latter because it was sometimes the vehicle for a kind of clog dance on a sanded stage to reduce friction.
The title has been identified by Bayard (1944, 1981) as a "floating title" in Pennsylvania, used for a number of different tunes, including a version of "Jenny Put the Kettle On (3)" (see also note for "Annotation:Bonaparte Crossing the Alps" and "Annotation: Miss McLeod's Reel (1) and its cognate "In the Woodpile (1)"). But the floating aspect of the title was hardly limited to Bayard's southwestern Pennsylvania collecting grounds, perhaps because the phrase "N....r in the Woodpile" [1] was in widespread (but perhaps not particularly frequent) use in English-speaking countries. It referred to 'a hidden fact of considerable importance, not previously disclosed' or 'a hidden flaw in an argument', but other meanings have been attached to it as well. "N..... in the Woodpile" was recorded in newspaper accounts as having been played by Professor Ludwig (of Cobb County, Ga.) in a 1913 Atlanta, Ga. fiddlers' contest. A tune by this title was recorded for Vocalion in 1924 by Uncle Am Stuart (b. 1856, Morristown, Tenn.).
There have been various suggestions regarding the title, including reference to the pilfering of wood by slaves for more warmth in their cabins, or to the woodpile in a wagon employed as a hiding place for escaped slaves.
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