The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #7018 Message #3629753
Posted By: Lighter
02-Jun-14 - 11:09 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Arkansas Traveler
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Arkansas Traveler
OK, the complete lyrics are in Wikipedia, though no credits.
Wikipedia also asserts that the tune was composed by Col. Sanford C. "Sandy" Faulkner (1805 - 1874), but no contemporaneous evidence is provided.
An article by H. C. Mercer in the Century Magazine of 1896 casts doubt on Faulkner as the composer (and gives his birth date as "1803.")
"The Sun" of Baltimore (Aug. 6, 1874, p. 1) is the earliest reference I can find that connects Faulkner with the tune. It includes the following in Faulkner's obituary:
"He was born in Kentucky in the year 1804 [sic]. In 1831 he went to Arkansas and in 1832 became acquainted with Waller Wright, the original squatter in the song and story known as the Arkansas Traveller. Wright sang a jumbled sort of song which attracted Faulkner's attention - a song and tune he had heard in various settlements. These words, together with the air, Faulkner made into the celebrated song, and for many years past he was universally known as 'The Arkansas Traveller.'"
This suggests that rather than create a new tune, Faulkner improved on a well-known melody and put words and a new title to it, though just what words remain a mystery. Or perhaps he wrote the comic dialogue. Or perhaps he did none of these things, since his name isn't linked to the tune until more than forty years after its supposed composition.
Another account asserts that Faulkner's meeting with an unnamed fiddler occurred near Russelville in 1829.
The tune as we know it today has also been credited to the Cincinnati violinist Jose' Tasso. All in all, its "origin" seems to be entirely uncertain. All that we know for sure is that a "Southern" breakdown called "The Arkansas Traveler" was advertised in Washington as part of a violin recital in November, 1846.