Annotation:Burke County

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X:1 T:Burke County N:From the playing of fiddler Bill Hensley (1873-1960, Madison N:County, N.C.), recorded in the field in 1940. M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel N:AEae tuning (fiddle) D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/burke-county Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:A [ce]-[ee]-[ee][ee] [e2e2][ce]-[ee]-|[ee][ee][ee][ef] [e2e2][c2e2]|[ce]-[ee]-[ee][ee] [e2e2][ce]-[ee]-|[ee][ee][ee][ef] [e2e2][c2e2]| [Be]-[ce]-[ce][ce] [c2e2][ce][Be]|1A2F2 EFA2|{B}[c3e3]B A2[A,2E2]-|[A,2E2]B-c A2A2:| |2 [M:2/4]A2F2||[M:C|]E-FA2 {B}[c3e3]B|A-BcB A2FA|E-FA2 {B}[c3e3][Be]-|[ce][Be][ce][Be] A2FA| |:E-FA2 {B}[c3e3]B|A-BcB A2FA|E-FA2 {B}[c3e3][Be]-|[ce][Be][ce][Be] A2FA:| EF A2 {B}[c3e3]B|A2 [A,2E2]- [A,E]AB-c|[M:2/4]A2A2||

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Fiddlin' Bill Hensley, 1937. Photograph by Ben Shahn, 1898-1969.

BURKE COUNTY. American, Reel (cut time). A Major. AEae tuning (fiddle). AA'B. "Burke County" was in the repertoire of William Andy "Fiddling Bill" Hensley (1873-1960), who in his career had worked for the railroad man, and held jobs as a machinist, cabinetmaker and farmer. Although born near Johnson City, Tennessee, he moved with his family at an early age to Madison County, North Carolina, telling one interviewer that he “walked 85 miles across the mountains to their new home with a rooster under one arm, and leading his little dog on a string behind him.” His principal interest was in fiddling, learned, according to the family "on his father's knee," and his uncle, Mac Hensley of Graham County, had a reputation as an excellent fiddler.

Hensley's lifelong passion is represented by his last spoken words, inquiring about his fiddle which he called "Old Calico." "Just before his death he turned to a daughter, Mrs. Mamie Larson of Denver, Colo., who happened to be in western North Caorlina on a visit and asked, "Did you get Old Calico." He seemed uninterested in what happened to the rest of his property in the home" . According to his contemporary, North Carolina fiddler Manco Sneed, Hensley, "was a pretty good fiddler, but played a little rough and drank too much." Hensley is also associated with the fiddling governor Robert Love Taylor, who served Tennessee for two terms in the late 19th century. The farm on which Hensley was born was adjacent to that of Gov. Bob Taylor, and Hensley fiddle, he claimed, come into the possession of Hensley's father who bartered twenty acres of land for it. Hensley attributed several tunes in his repertoire to Taylor, and at least one to John Sneed, Manco's father.

"Burke County" was one of the signature tunes in the repertory of Hensley's uncle, Rube Hensley, from whom Bill probably learned it

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