Origin: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground

Subject: RE: Origin: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground
From: GUEST,Joseph Scott
Date: 05 Nov 14 - 04:29 PM

"If you kill a lizard in the spring the spring will go dry" was also in "Virginia Folk Lore" in the Raleigh, North Carolina _Morning Post_, 11/16/1899, and in similar or identical articles in the Hagerstown, Maryland _Daily Mail_, 11/18/1899, the Somerset, Pennsylvania _Herald_, 12/6/1899, the Freeport, Illinois _Journal Standard_, 2/2/1900, and the Ironwood, Michigan _News Record_, 2/17/1900.

Subject: RE: Origin: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground
From: GUEST,Dave Ruch
Date: 05 Nov 14 - 05:51 PM

Doc Watson explained the song once as being in the voice of a guy who got tired of climbing a big mountain every day to get to work (and back again to come home), so he wished he could do like a mole would and "root" a tunnel straight through.

Subject: RE: Origin: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground
From: GUEST,Joseph Scott
Date: 05 Nov 14 - 06:49 PM

"'Oh! I really wish I was a mole! The wild-cat might come as soon as she pleased, then.... I could dig through the earth a great deal faster than she could.... [H]e never cares what sort of weather it is.... Oh! It must be very nice to be a mole!'" -- from the children's book _The Squirrels And Other Animals..._, 1842.

Subject: RE: Origin: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Nov 14 - 02:15 PM

http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdVPE.asp?ppn=MN0094711&ref=google

Subject: RE: Origin: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 May 20 - 07:28 PM

needs work

Subject: RE: Origin: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 May 20 - 03:48 PM

Bascam Lunsford, a mighty collector banjo and fiddler, an unusal reactionary backward looking guy, the work he did recording and collecting was extensive, he was a solicitor i believe he hada banjo style that wasexclusice to a small area of north carolina,i think

Subject: RE: Origin: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground
From: cnd
Date: 27 May 20 - 05:10 PM

Sandman, you're correct, Lunsford did have a unique semi-local way of playing that was similar to clawhammer but included aspects of two-finger (no thumb) banjo picking, but could switch between two styles of playing. You can read a good discussion on his playing style at Banjo Hangout. Basically it was popular in Western NC, but also Eastern Tennessee and Northern Georgia.

And you're also right that he was a big part of preserving the song. His recording of the song in 1928 on Brunswick was the first recording and as part of his folklore research, and he certainly is the basis of a lot of modern research about the song.

Subject: RE: Origin: I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 May 20 - 05:36 PM

yes if i recall correctly he hopped over up with his index finger to the string above to play a harmony note instead of drop thumbing