Annotation:Nancy Dalton
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NANCY DALTON. AKA - "Nancy Dawson (2)." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Kentucky. D Major. Standard or ADae (Monday/Titon) tunings (fiddle). AABB. The tune was in the repertoire of Monroe County, south-central Kentucky, fiddler biography:Jim Bowles (1903-1997) who learned it from local musicians. Fiddlers Isham Monday (1879-1964) and Sammie Walker (1910-1987), both of whom were also from Monroe County, played the tune and called it "Nancy Dawson;" (Monday's 1959 field recording is in the Western Kentucky University archive). As a variant of a larger tune family, it was not widely known outside the Monroe County region, however, Jeff Titon (2001) identifies it as a member of the "Old Dubuque" family of tunes which is more widespread. Of the three performances, Monday's is the most archaic sounding, followed by Bowles's version; the youngest member of the trio, Sammie Walker, had a version markedly more influenced by more modern styles of fiddling. The family includes "Dubuque," "Hell Up Coal Holler (2)," "Old Dubuque" and "Duck River" (see notes for those tunes).
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Source for notated version: Pat Kingery [1] (Ky) [Phillips]; Isham Monday (1879-1964, Tompkinsville, Monroe County, Ky., 1959) [Titon]; Greg Canote [Silberberg].
Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 161. Silberberg (93 Tunes I Didn't Learn at the Tractor Tavern), 2004; p. 32. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddler Tunes), 2001; No. 107, p. 136.
Recorded sources: Marimac 9060, Jim Bowles - "Railroading Through the Rocky Mountains" (1994). Merriweather Records 1001-2, Pat Kingery - "I Kind of Believe it's a Gift" (c. 1986).
See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [2]
Hear Sammie Walker's 1982 field recording by John Harrod at Slippery Hill [3]
Hear Isham Monday's 1959 field recording by D.K. Wilgus at Slippery Hill [4] and at Berea Sound Archives [5]
Hear Jim Bowles' 1994 recording at Slippery Hill [6]