Brushy Fork of John's Creek (1)

 BRUSHY FORK OF JOHN'S CREEK [1]. AKA - "Brushy Fork of Buckthorn," "The Long Fork of Buckthorn." Old-time, Breakdown. USA, eastern Kentucky. A Mixolydian. AEae tuning. AB (Titon/Stamper): AAB (Titon/Salyer): ABB'CC (Phillips). In the repertoire's of Kentucky fiddlers Hiram Stamper and John Sayler. See also the closely related tunes "Long Fork of Buckhorn" and "Old Christmas Morning." Versions of tune were in the repertoires of West Virginia fiddlers Burl Hammons and Ed Haley (see below). Kentucky fiddler Hiram Stamper learned the tune from Shade Sloan, a Civil War veteran, and said that Alton Sizemore played it and called it "Brushy Fork of Buckhorn." Hiram's son, the late Art Stamper, recorded a version in standard tuning he called "The Long Fork of Buckhorn." Gerry Milnes suggests the title may relate to John's Creek in West Virginia's Big Sandy Valley, at the mouth of which one branch of the Hammonds family settled in 1791 (members of the family spell their last name differently). John Hartford (Fiddler) says older informants have told him the title commemorates a Civil War battle either on Brushy Fork of John's Creek in Pike County, Kentucky, or near Old Bedstead Mountain in southern Floyd County, Kentucky. The battle was supposedly one of the last of the war, according to the veteran Sloan. Sources for notated versions: Stuart Duncan [Phillips]; John M. Salyer (Salyersville, Maggofin County, Ky., 1941) [Titon]; Hiram Stamper (Hindman, Knott County, Kentucky, 1977) [Fiddler Magazine, Titon]; Art Stamper, via Jody Stecher [Fiddler Magazine]. Printed sources: Fiddler Magazine, Winter 2005/06, vol. 12, No. 4; pp. 46-47 (two versions). Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; p. 39. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 18A, 18B, pp. 52-53. Recorded sources: Berea College Appalachian Center AC003, "John M. Salyer - Home Recordings 1940-41, vol. 1" (1993). County 779, Art Stamper (appears as "The Long Fork of Buckhorn"). County CO-CD-2729, Art Stamper - "Goodbye Girls I'm Going to Boston" (2000). Rounder 0361, Bruce Molsky - "Lost Boy" (1996). Yodel-Ay-Hee 003, "Dirk Powell and John Hermann" (1992). Yodel-Ay-Hee 05, The Wildcats - "On Our Knees" (1992).

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