Annotation:White Fish in the Rapids

Back to White Fish in the Rapids

---

WHITE FISH IN THE RAPIDS. American, Canadian; Reel. USA, northern Michigan. Canada; Ontario, Cape Breton. B Flat Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Old-Time. Paul Gifford remarks that this tune was supposedly written by Henry Thorne (1841-1928), “a part-Indian Civil War veteran who played for Henry Ford….around Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, it was the real ‘local’ tune.” Paul also remarks that the Native Americans around the St. Mary’s River depended on the whitefish on the rapids for a major part of their sustenance. See also the closely related tunes "Good for the Tongue" and "Jenkins' Hornpipe."

Source for notated version: Wendy Kosocoff [Phillips].

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 255.

Recorded sources: Patti Lamoureux - "Prairie Fire."

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]
Hear Pattie Lamoureux's (Kusturok) recording on youtube.com [2]

---