Annotation:Devil in the Woodpile (1)

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 DEVIL IN THE WOODPILE [1]. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, West Virginia. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A story from the fiddling Hammons clan of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, tells of one member of the family, Old Pete Hammons, who made the mistake of continuing to fiddle for a Saturday night dance after midnight had struck. He returned home and put the fiddle on its peg on the wall, but later in the night heard the instrument playing "Devil in the Woodpile" by itself. Hammons had to burn the instrument to cease the phenomenon and is said to never have touched a fiddle again (Milnes, Play of a Fiddle, 1999, p. 9).  Source for notated version: Melvin Wine (Braxton County, W.Va.) [Phillips, Silberberg].  Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 69. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; p. 35.  Recorded sources:

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