Annotation:Polly put the Kettle on (2)
X:1 T:Polly Put the Kettle On [2] L:1/8 M:4/4 K:D |:fg | a2ab afef | gede cAfg | a2ab afef | gfec d2 :| |: de | dcde fdfa | gfed cBA2 | dcde fefa | gfec d2 :|]
POLLY PUT THE KETTLE ON [2]. AKA - "Sally put the Kettle on." AKA and see "Molly Put the Kettle On (1)." American, Reel (2/4 time). USA; east Tennessee, western N.C., central Alabama, north Ga., Arkansas. G Major (with flat 7th) {Ford}: D Major {Devil's Box, Silberberg, Spadaro}. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABC (Silberberg): AABB (Ford, Spadaro). "Polly put the Kettle on" is a common East Tennessee tune, although it has transcended Appalachian boundaries. The reel was played by Wiley Harper (Monroe, Ga.) in an April, 1913, Atlanta, Ga. fiddlers' contest, according to the newspaper The Atlanta Journal.
Polly, put the kettle on and slice the bread and butter fine.
Slice enough for eight or nine, we'll all have tea. ... [Ford]
The tune the repertoire of western N.C. regionally influential fiddler Ernest "Osey" Helton, originally from Tennessee. The reel is sometimes compared to "Granny Will Your Dog Bite? (1)" which has a similar feel, although a different melody.
The title (as "Sally put the Kettle on") appears in a list of "forgotten" tunes compiled by W.E.G. of Verbena, Alabama, as reported in the Union Banner of September 29, 1921. It also appears in a list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tunes compiled by musiocologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954.
See note for "annotation:Molly Put the Kettle On (1)" for more.