Annotation:Whip the Devil around the Stump
X:0 T: No Score C: The Traditional Tune Archive M: K: x
WHIP(PING) THE DEVIL AROUND THE STUMP. AKA and see "Boogerman," "Chasing the Devil Around a Stump," "Hummingbird Reel." American, Reel. USA, Eastern Tenn., Western N.C. "Whip the Devil around the Stum" was recorded for Broadway Records (A1964, 78 RPM) in 1924 in New York City by J. Dedrick Harris accompanied by Ernest Helton on banjo. Jared Dedrick "J.D" Harris (born ca. 1868) was originally from Flag Pond, Unicoi County, Tennessee, across the border from Madison County, North Carolina, but later in life moved across the state line. In the 1920's he was a mentor and influence on several younger North Carolina fiddlers, including Ernest (Osey) Helton, Bill Hensley, Manco Sneed and Marcus Martin. In his younger days Harris had played with the fiddling Governor of Tennessee, Bob Taylor, as he stumped for election.
See also other cognate melodies in the tune family, identified by Gus Meade (Country Music Sources): "McCarroll's Breakdown" (from Roane County Ramblers fiddler Jimmy McCarroll, recorded 1929), "Hog Jowls and Barbeque" (from north Georgia fiddler A.A. Gray, recorded as part of Seven Foot Dilly's skit "A Georgia Barbeque on Stone Mountain," 1930), "Chickens in the Garden" (Hugh Roden & Roy Rogers, 1930). Meade also includes Bill Hensley's (North Carolina) "Booger Man," J.D. Harris's "Bucking Mule," Harvey Sharp's "Puncheon Floor," and John Summers (Indiana) "Pretty Little Girl with the Blue Dress On (1)."
