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Lighter Texas fiddle tunes in 1900 (10) Texas fiddle tunes in 1900 19 Dec 21


On February 10, 1900, the Dallas Morning News published this list of 107 tunes played on banjo and fiddle at a fiddlin' convention at Brenham.

This may be the most extensive list of tunes played by traditional fiddlers to have appeared print before the 20th century – at a time when scholars had barely discovered fiddle music in the Appalachians. So a list from Texas is doubly interesting.

The Civil War had ended only 35 years earlier, so many of the titles must date back that far or farther. Many are still familiar, but many familiar favorites are conspicuously absent – “Old Joe Clark” and “Durang's Hornpipe,” for example. Of course, titles like Stephen Foster’s “Oh! Susanna” (1848), “Camptown Races” (1850), and “My Old Kentucky Home” (1853) are also missing. (Foster was the composer of “Old Folks at Home” – or “Swanee River” – [1851] and “Massa’s in the Cold, Cold Ground” [1853], both on the list.)

I've alphabetized the titles.

All Jine Hands
Arkansas Traveler
Big Sis
Billy in the Low Ground
Black Cat’s Foot
Black Eyed Susie
Black Jack Grove
Black Satin
Bonaparte's Retreat
Bonnie Blue Flag
Brannigan’s Pup
Brindle Steer
Buffalo Girls
Bulldog’s Eye   
Bull-Frog's Eye
De Cackling Hen
Campbell's are Coming
Catfish and Minnow
Cat Slept in the Shavings
Cheatem
Chicken in the Bread Tray
Cinda [sic], Fare You Well
Clear the Track
College Hornpipe
Coonie on the Ground
Cotton Eyed Joe
Dan Tucker
Dat Gal is So Deceivin’
Devilish Mary
Devil’s Dream
Dixie Land
Dog Eat a Rye Straw
Downfall of Paris
Drunken Hiccoughs
Eighth of January
Farewell Whisky
Faulkey Dear [i.e., “Forked Deer”
Fine Time at Our House
Fisher’s Hornpipe
Forked Ear [i.e., “Forked Deer”]
Fuss in the Family
Gal on the Log
Getting Upstairs
Get Up in the Cool
Give the Fiddler a Dram
God Speed the Plow
Gray Eagle
Green Brier
Hell Broke Loose in Georgia
Hog-Eyed Man
Hop Light Ladies
Irish Washwoman
Jennie on the Railroad
Jennie Put the Kettle On
John’s Got a New House
Killy Crankie
Kitty is the Gal for Me
Leather Breeches
Little More Cider
Liza Jane
Lost Indian
Massa’s in the Cold, Cold Ground
Methodist Preacher
Miss Sawyer
Mollie Put the Kettle On
Molly Hare
Money Musk
Nancy Roland
Natchez Under the Hill
N----r in the Woodpile
Off to Georgia
Old Gray Horse
Old Hen Cackle
Old Muse and Pups
Old Straw Bonnet
Old Uncle Ned
One Eyed Riley
Pop Goes the Weasel
Possum Up the Gum Stump
Pretty Polly Ann
Rare Back, Davy
Ricker’s [sic] Hornpipe
Ringtail Coon
Rocky Road to Dublin
Ryan’s Buck Scrap
Rye Straw
Saddle Old Spike
Sallie Hamilton
Sally Gooden
Sally Johnson
Sandy Land
Shoo Fly
Soap Suds Over the Fence
Soldiers' Joy
Stump Tail Dog
Sugar in the Coffee
Sugar in the Gourd
Suwanee River
Tailor in the Loft
Tom and Jerry
Two-Eyed Jane
Wagoner
Walk Along, Jawbone
Walk Along, John   
Walls of Jericho
Want to Go to Meetin’ but Got No Shoes
Young Gal So Deceivin’


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