Annotation:Goose Hangs High

|Tune properties and standard notation

 GOOSE HANGS HIGH. AKA - "Everything is Pleasant Schottische." American, Schottische. USA, Arizona. D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB. Everything is lovely when the goose hangs high. Arizona fiddler Kenner C. Kartchner thought the tune was composed in the 19th century, and noted it was played for dances in the Southwest in the early 20th century. It was one of the tunes listed in the repertoire of Georgia fiddler Ben Smith, who played it during the Civil War while serving with the 12th Alabama Infantry (Cauthen, 1990). Various explanations are give for the title, many along the lines of the goose 'honking' high or 'yonging' high, to describe a particular cry of the goose in flight. Geese fly higher with the advent of clear weather, and thus honking from a height means the coming of favorable weather. As an idiom, the phrase "everything is lovely when the goose 'honks' high" means that prospects are bright.  Source for notated version:  Printed sources: Ruth (Pioneer Western Folk Tunes), 1948; No. 36, p. 14 (appears as "Everything is Pleasant Schottische").  Recorded sources:

|Tune properties and standard notation