Annotation:Cattle in the Cane (1)
X:0 T: No Score C: The Traditional Tune Archive M: K: x
CATTLE IN THE CANE [1]. AKA- "Cattle in the Corn (1)." Old-Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA, Texas. A Mixolydian ('A' part) & A Aeolian ('B' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Brody): AA'BB (Phillips). The melody was recorded by Texas fiddler Captain Moses "M.J." Bonner [1] (1847-1939) in the 1920's as "Yearlings in the Canebreak." At age 17, in 1864, he enlisted in Company E, 12th Texas Cavalry, and served fourteen months as a courier, although it is possible he may have seen action during the Red River campaign. In later life he was active in veteran's affairs and was a fixture at fiddler's contests (he was also renowned as a jig dancer). Bonner is also remembered as the premier old-time musician to play on the very first radio "barn dance" broadcast over station WBAP in Ft. Worth on January. 4, 1923. "Cattle in the Cane [1]" is often played with a pizzicato feature. See also related tunes "Yearlings in the Canebreak" and "Maggie Grey;" and "Old Grey Cat" for a possible Scottish cognate. Mike Seeger recorded the tune in 1963 from the playing of Texas fiddler Eck Robertson, who had the title as "Hell Amongst the Yearlings (2)."
