Annotation:Polly in the Kitchen

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POLLY IN THE KITCHEN. Old-Time, Breakdown. A banjo tune played by Howard Hall of Hillsville, Carroll County, Virginia, that Mike Yates (2002) thinks reminiscent in parts of “Cotton Eyed Joe (1).” When Hall recorded the tune in 1979 for field collector Yates, he sang this verse to the melody:

Polly in the kitchen, Polly in the hall,
Polly in the kitchen, eating it all.

Yates also thought that Hall's style and repertoire reflected the older banjo-fiddle duets common to the Hillsville/Galax region, later supplanted in popularity by string bands.

Source for notated version:

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Musical Traditions MTCD321-2, Howard Hall (et al) – “Far on the Mountains, vols. 1 & 2” (2002).

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